


Guns N' Daisies

by Flareon37



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Action & Romance, Angst, Detective AU, Detectives, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lovers to Strangers to perhaps Lovers again, Organized Crime, Partners in Crime, Slow Burn, jeongmi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:47:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27696491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flareon37/pseuds/Flareon37
Summary: A new case is assigned to the Elite Detective Squad of Seoul Metropolitan Police’s Special Operations Unit that is being led by the famous Chief Detective Yoo Jeongyeon.  The case is complex and highly confidential so a new detective is added to the team.But what will happen if Detective Yoo finds out that the new member is Detective Myoui Mina- who apparently is her ex-wife?Will they be able to solve the case together when they can’t even stand each other’s presence?…or a JeongMi Detective AU where detectives try to solve cases and fix their broken hearts.
Relationships: Kim Dahyun/Minatozaki Sana, Kim Dahyun/Son Chaeyoung, Minatozaki Sana/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, Myoui Mina/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 322
Kudos: 619





	1. Track 01:  I Melt With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> We Love Yoo Jeongyeon!

*****

**Present time. Somewhere around Seoul.**

Jeongyeon stretches her hand, inhales deeply, and smiles in satisfaction when her sensitive nose doesn’t smell a tinge of pollution from the cold autumn air currently invading her lungs. 

She supposes that’s what you get from sitting on the edge of an open helipad in one of Seoul’s tallest skyscrapers. 

It’s a bit chilly up there but the chief detective doesn’t mind the cold temperature, and her black leather jacket is still enough to warm her up.

The nightly view of the busy city down below calms her mind, and Jeongyeon just continues to bop her head and hums to the song that is blasting loudly from her specialized in-ear.

She’s immensely feeling the song now and is about to belt out the chorus when the groovy music changes to an urgent high-pitched voice from one of her squad members-

“Iris, get ready. I got the evidence now.” 

Jeongyeon perks up and stands abruptly after hearing it.

“You recorded all of it? Are you sure?”

“You’re doubting me now, Iris?”

Jeongyeon grins at the sassy retort from the other girl and replies back playfully-

“Lily, my favorite squad mate, when have I ever doubted you?”

But Jeongyeon didn’t wait for her answer anymore when her mischievous eyes instantly shift into a serious glint, while she looks at her customized smart watch and asks _Lily_ again-

“Have you transferred it now to Orchid’s files?”

“We’re on it, boss.”

 _Orchid_ quickly replies from the other end with a hint of excitement and giddiness in her tone.

Jeongyeon smiles proudly while she grabs her helmet and starts riding the elevator 65 floors down to the building’s basement.

“Great job, Orchid. That’s why you’re my favorite.”

“I thought I’m your favorite?”

 _Lily_ quickly snaps back.

“What do you mean? I love you both.”

Jeongyeon snickers a bit loudly for the two girls to hear it.

_Lily_ just scoffs on the other line while _Orchid_ remains giddy.

“How much time do we have?”

Jeongyeon asks again when she finally hops on her black motorcycle parked in the building’s basement.

“Fifteen minutes ‘till they pass by Gangnam intersection.”

 _Orchid_ replies while she checks the monitors in front of her and her fingers are busy typing at erroneous speed.

The chief detective smiles widely at that, a clear rush of excitement now in her tone-

“Alright team, y’all ready to catch some criminals again?”

“Copy, Iris.” / “I’m ready, boss!”

 _Lily_ and _Orchid_ both replies in unison.

Jeongyeon pulls down her black helmet, she grins smugly when she starts off her motorcycle engine and announces to her squad-

“Pizza on me later!”

The chief detective then starts driving past the long road of Myeongdong at blazing speed while _Orchid_ turns all the traffic lights to green, and shifts them immediately to red right after Jeongyeon passed by on every intersection.

Jeongyeon skillfully navigates and zips through every road and alleyway. It’s not only 10 minutes since she left the building when she already sees their target, and starts chasing a black Chevrolet explorer van along the wide long road of Gangnam.

The van driver seems to notice that Jeongyeon is trailing them so the previously inconspicuous vehicle starts to accelerate at an over speed limit.

“Orchid, now!”

Jeongyeon commands to her squad mate, and _Orchid_ immediately hacks into the van’s system which sends the vehicle into a chaotic tailspin.

“Boss Iris, the driver overrides my system!”

 _Orchid_ whines in panic mode but Jeongyeon is quick to calm her rookie team mate down.

“It’s ok kid, we got you.”

When the van is about to hit a family car, a red Audi instantly maneuvers in between them and collides into the van, quickly reversing its direction.

But the explorer van is still out of control and skids frantically on the road while Jeongyeon continues to trail the large vehicle.

A nearby bus from the opposite intersection is now about to ram into the van. 

Jeongyeon is left with no choice so she skillfully drifts on the road and ejects herself from her motorcycle, pushing her beloved Ducati underneath the bus to further slow it down, avoiding its almost deadly collision with the van.

The chief detective then rolls over on the road while she sees the red Audi finally catches up on the van and collides in front of it. 

  
“Boss Iris are you ok? Can you hear me? Detective Yoo!! Answer me please!”

A panicking _Orchid_ screams on her in-ear and Jeongyeon can’t help but grimace on the sudden deafening sound.

“Stop shouting, kid. I’m still alive.”

Jeongyeon stands up from the roadside, but she immediately runs in full speed when she notices that the van’s driver gets out from the vehicle and is escaping away.

Among other things, the chief elite detective is the best at sprinting and chasing criminals the old school way. So it didn’t even take a minute for Jeongyeon to finally catch up to the van’s driver and pin him down on the road while she recites the Miranda rights to him with gritted teeth.

When she brings the driver to the black van again, _Lily_ is now holding the other suspect while talking to the reporters gathering around the scene.

“Hey Minatozaki, is your car still ok? Let’s bring these bloody bastards now to the station.”

Jeongyeon forcefully pulls the handcuffed suspect with her.

“I can’t believe you ruined a Ducati this time, Yoo.”

Sana looks at her with a mix of disbelief and perhaps a bit of concern too.

“Chief Park would definitely throw a fit at you again.”

Jeongyeon just snickers at the comment, not a single bit of worry in her tone when she replies-

“Don’t worry about Jihyo. She knows it’s part of the job anyways. Plus we’re bringing a _prize_ to her again so I’m pretty sure she’ll let it slide.”

The chief detective smiles before she holds her in-ear and speaks to her other squad mate-

“Hey kid, just drive and wait for us at the station ok? We’re on our way there already. Don’t let Chief Park see you alone or else she’ll interrogate you. And you know very well you don’t want that, right?”

“Yes boss!! I’ll wait for you both. Copy on that Detective Yoo.” 

Dahyun nods eagerly on the other end of the line even though Jeongyeon doesn’t see her.

“Let’s go.”

Jeongyeon signals at Sana, and they shove the suspects inside Sana’s car while they drive back to their station together.

*****

**Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) - Special Operations Unit Station**

As soon as Jeongyeon’s team enters the station with the two suspects, they are greeted with loud cheers from the other detectives of their unit.

Jeongyeon, the leader of their squad, is just walking calmly. 

Even though she's not saying anything and only lets out a small smile as a polite response to every greeting that she gets, the chief detective still exudes the most commanding and most charismatic aura in the entire station- that is of course, if their Station Chief is not around.

Sana sends a sweet and genuine smile to every colleague that congratulates them.

While their rookie squad mate, Dahyun, is waving eagerly and smiling so widely every time someone compliments her.

“Detective Yoo Jeongyeon, you’ve done it again.”

Their Station Unit Chief and Jeongyeon’s closest friend, Park Jihyo, greets them with a proud smile as soon as she walks closer to the Elite Detective Squad.

“I’m so proud of you.”

Jihyo adds while she lightly punches her friend’s shoulder, a habit that she has acquired through their several years of friendship.

“Well it’s not just me, Sana and Dahyun here played a big part in solving this case too.”

Jeongyeon then grins and punches Jihyo’s shoulder in return while she teases their Station Chief,

“But then of course I’m your best friend so understandable if I’m your favorite.”

Sana suddenly coughs after hearing the chief detective’s ever so smug reply. When Jihyo looks at her, Sana quickly averts her gaze while a faint blush creeps into her cheeks.

Jihyo squints at Sana and asks questioningly,

“Is there anything that you’re not telling me, Detective Minatozaki?”

Sana internally panics and she tries her very best to think of an excuse so she blurts out instead,

“Detective Yoo wrecks her motorcycle during the operation.”

Jihyo’s eyes widened in shock and she quickly glares at her friend. 

“Please tell me it’s not the Ducati.”

“It’s not the Ducati.” 

Jeongyeon quickly answers her.

Jihyo knows her friend so damn well, and she also knows that Jeongyeon doesn’t have any spare motorcycle with her so she angrily replies-

“Are you kidding me?”

“You told me to tell you that it’s not the Ducati. I’m just following your orders, Ji. You’re my Chief Superior and I respect-”

“In my office, NOW!”

Jeongyeon gulps and she can only let out a nervous smile when Jihyo turns around and starts walking towards her private office.

She then looks at her squad mate and sheepishly tries to ask for back up-

“You wanna come?” 

“No.” Sana quickly rejects her.

“What kind of a squad mate are you, Minatozaki?”

“The one that doesn’t wreck a $25k Ducati.”

Sana wittingly remarks and Jeongyeon just shakes her head in disbelief.

“I can come, Detective Yoo, if you want?”

Dahyun perks up and volunteers.

“Oh no, Dahyun-ah. Our leader can handle it herself.”

Sana throws her arm on the younger girl’s shoulder and tugs Dahyun closer to her while she mirrors Jeongyeon’s statement earlier-

“I’m pretty sure Chief Park will just let it slide, right?”

Jeongyeon is now annoyed at her colleague and she points her finger at Sana when she announces-

“You’re not part of my pizza treat tonight, Minatozaki!”

Sana just laughs loudly when Jeongyeon starts to walk albeit grudgingly towards Jihyo’s office- all while unknowingly rubbing Dahyun’s arm, which perhaps sends aflutter on the rookie detective’s young heart.

*****

Inside their Station Chief’s large office, Jeongyeon sits comfortably on the couch while she thinks of an excuse for her actions earlier.

“You can just deduct it on my monthly payroll, Ji. No need to negotiate to the higher ups anymore so they can slide this again like the usual.”

“You don’t have to tell me that anymore. I’ll definitely deduct it on your monthly payroll. My estimate is you need to work here for 30 more years before you’re able to fully pay that damn motorcycle.”

Jeongyeon’s mouth opens wide in shock-

“30 years?? You gotta be kidding me.”

Jihyo just continues to seriously stare at her. 

When Jeongyeon’s eyes get even wider at the sudden realization that her friend is not joking, Jihyo begins to laugh loudly and taps her wooden desk furiously.

“I can’t believe you fell for that.”

“Damn you, Ji. Stop laughing at my misery.”

Jihyo finally stops laughing and her face gets a bit serious when she speaks again.

“I was just trying to lighten up the mood... Besides, the ruined Ducati is not the reason why I called you here.”

The Station Chief then pulls out a folder from her drawer, stands up from her armchair, and hands it over to the senior detective.

“What’s this?”

Jeongyeon accepts the folder and starts scanning the files inside.

“Remember the kidnapping case ten months ago? Apparently there’s much more to it. So they set up a meeting among us Station Chiefs last week. Eventually I was appointed to form the Elite Detective team that will handle and hopefully solve that case. ”

Jeongyeon just nods while she continues to read the investigation files. Jihyo carefully observes her friend’s mood before she speaks again-

“So I decided to give it over to your team.”

“No probs, Ji. I think my team can handle it. Good thing we just finished that Heist Case today so we can focus on this now.”

“With the addition of another detective.”

Jeongyeon stops reading and she immediately looks up from the files to stare at her friend.

Jihyo then begins to carefully explain again-

“Your team obviously has a missing link. From my initial readings, this case is very complex and it looks like it’s intricately planned. You need someone else’s expertise. Someone who’s gonna be a vital help to you and your team.”

Jeongyeon ponders at her friend’s words and reluctantly nods in agreement.

“Yeah, I can see your point. So who is it then? Is it Detective Kang? I think Seulgi can be a great addition to our team.”

“No. It’s not Seulgi. The new member is not from our current station’s roster.”

Jeongyeon’s brows furrowed when she observes Jihyo’s body language and suspicious gaze.

“I’m not liking your tone, Ji.”

The Station Chief continues to maintain eye contact with her friend when she finally drops the bomb-

“Starting the day after next week, Detective Myoui Mina will join your team.”

Jeongyeon’s ears ring loudly, and her heart starts to ache at the mere mention of the name. 

She looks at Jihyo quietly with silent questions loaded on her stare. When her friend doesn’t speak after a few minutes, Jeongyeon finally breaks the tense silence between them-

“You’re joking again aren’t you?”

“I’m not.”

“You’re joking. Is she even here in the country?”

“Yes she is.”

Jeongyeon scoffs at that and ignores any hint of excitement that bubbles up in her chest after hearing the confirmation.

“You’re definitely joking, Ji. There’s no way. I mean-”

“I’m serious this time, Jeong. Mina will join your team next week.”

Jeongyeon lets out an empty laugh since she can’t fathom the ridiculousness of it all.

“Is this your way of punishing me because of that damn motorcycle? I’d rather have you cut 100% of my monthly payroll than be in the same place with Mi-…. with Myo-… with Mi- Damn it!”

_I can’t even say her name aloud now?_

Jihyo looks at her friend pitifully,

“I know you have history together, Jeong.”

“Of course you do. If there’s a single person here who knows about our history together very well- it’s you, Ji. So I really don’t know why you’re still doing this to me.”

“I’m not purposely doing this to you. There are actual people’s lives at stake here, Detective Yoo Jeongyeon.”

Jihyo adds seriously yet her tone is laced with gentleness, knowing full well what her friend is feeling at the moment.

Jeongyeon is now looking at her with worried eyes so Jihyo walks closer to her friend and holds her hand.

“I’m not invalidating your feelings, Jeong. But I’m aware that deep inside, you know full well that we need Mina in this case. So please, bear with her even just for a few months while we investigate this?”

The chief detective just exhales loudly and looks down on the floor, feeling defeated. 

So Jihyo lightly punches her friend’s shoulder and comments with a gentle tone-

“Come on now. You’re the great elite Detective Yoo Jeongyeon who still managed to top our service ranking exam on the day your dog died. I also trust that you and Mina can set your personal issues aside, so you both can handle this case professionally.”

The detective’s shoulder sag in retreat and lets out another loud sigh when she finally utters her reply,

“I’ll try, Ji. But I can’t promise to be completely civil with her.”

“That should be enough. Trying is enough. That's how we usually start right?”

Jihyo replies quietly while sending the worried detective a sincere reassuring smile.

*****

That night, Jeongyeon drives back home with an indescribable uneasiness in her heart.

She can’t believe that after all these years, just a single mention of her name from someone else can instantly send her mind into a complete chaotic mess again.

Once she reaches her home entrance, Jeongyeon inserts her key and turns on the main door knob quietly. 

When she enters her doorway and opens her shoe rack, she suddenly feels a familiar warm embrace hugging her from behind, soft lips pressed on the side of her neck, and a quiet sweet voice greeting her home-

_“Welcome home, honey! I miss you.”_

Jeongyeon quickly turns around ready to return the warm embrace much tighter, only to be faced by a familiar sight of her doorway wall- bare, and dim, and achingly too plain and solid.

Not a single trace of the beautiful face she’s expecting to see.

_“Damn. We’re back at it again, huh?”_

She mutters to herself after realizing what just happened.

Jeongyeon drags herself on the way to her bedroom, ready to shower all of these unnecessary worries and _feelings_ away.

But she quickly halts on her steps when she noticed the huge framed picture hanging sturdily on her living room wall.

Lately, the picture doesn’t bother her anymore like it used to. She can even eat her cereals every morning and look at it as if it’s just another painting that she has ordered online from Ebay.

But tonight- now that she’s looking at it again from just a few feet away, why does it suddenly bother her so much more now? This familiar heaviness in her chest coming back to haunt her again.

“Stop smiling.”

Jeongyeon demands on the framed picture as if the girl sending her the lovely gummy smile will actually follow her and stop smiling at her.

Before the longing in her chest consumes her for the rest of the night, she pulls out the phone from her pocket.

It’s not shower that she urgently needs tonight.

Shower can wait. Tonight, she badly needs a drink.

So the detective searches for her squad’s encrypted message thread and sends a chat to **_IRIS’ Minions._**

**IRIS (10:02 PM)**

Handong’s Bar now. Drinks on me.

**Orchid (10:02 PM)**

Copy boss!

**Lily (10:08 PM)**

Will I get a free bulgogi too?

**IRIS (10:09 PM)**

No. 

bulgogi’s for Orchid’s only.

I told you no pizza for you.

**Lily (10:10 PM)**

But bulgogi is not pizza!

**IRIS (10:12 PM)**

It’s still food. Just the same.

**Lily (10:13 PM)**

I’ll pass then. Food >>> shots.

**Orchid (10:13 PM)**

Come on now, I’ll share my bulgogi with you.

We can go together.

Lily, please. 🥺🥺 

**IRIS (10:14 PM)**

Kid, you coming?

**Orchid (10:14 PM)**

Oh shit.

**IRIS (10:15 PM)**

Why are you cursing?

**Orchid (10:16 PM)**

That was supposed to be a DM, boss.. sorry.

**Lily (10:16 PM)**

How about fried chickens?

Samgyeopsal?

I think jeokbal.

Maybe some ramyeon?

I’m craving for ice cream.

But it’s cold

so cheesecake?

Spicy cheese tteokbokki

Or maybe some sushi?

**IRIS (10:18 PM)**

Stop spamming!

**Lily (10:30 PM)**

on the way now..

Iris you there yet?

**Orchid (10:30 PM)**

Yeah, we’re on the way

I mean, I’m on the way now too, boss!!

**IRIS (10:31 PM)**

Yes.

Hurry up

*****

Because it’s Friday, their usual hangout bar is full tonight. But the cool owner still gives the squad their usual spot as soon as she sees the famous detective enters her bar.

When Dahyun and Sana finally came and sit across their leader, an already tipsy Jeongyeon immediately starts bombarding them with her stories.

Those usual _funny_ stories and old anecdotes that Sana has already heard countless of times before- having been working with Jeongyeon for the past six years.

Dahyun, the ever so obedient and newbie detective that she is, just listens attentively to her boss the entire time that Jeongyeon is rambling.

But Sana immediately senses that there’s something bothering the chief detective with the way Jeongyeon is excitedly telling her stories.

“You ok, Yoo?”

Sana carefully asks the detective when Jeongyeon downs her 20th shot of soju that night.

Jeongyeon instantly whips her tipsy head to her squad mate and smiles unconvincingly while slightly slurring some of her words-

“Of course, Minatwozhaki. I’m ohhkay. I’m gooood. Perfectly fine.”

Jeongyeon then giggles at Sana and Dahyun for no reason at all, while she tries her best to fill up another shot.

Sana quickly gets the soju bottle from the detective and hides it away from their leader. 

“That’s enough for tonight, Yoo.”

Jeongyeon whines a bit, but she giggles again after a few seconds, her face is fully flushed now and her eyes are droopy.

“I think Detective Yoo is drunk now.”

Dahyun looks at their giggling chief detective with concerned eyes.

“I’m not yet drunk, kid. Oh but just in case-”

Jeongyeon perks up and reaches out for the inside pocket of her leather jacket.

She struggles a bit to find whatever it is she’s trying to reach for. But after a few seconds, she finally pulls out her wallet and hands it over to Dahyun.

“In case I get fully drunk, you can pay our bills. My card’s inside. Just give it to Handong over there. I trust you kid.”

But Jeongyeon’s hold on her wallet is a bit loose so she drops it on the floor even before Dahyun can get a hold of it.

When Dahyun reaches out for the opened wallet on the floor, she notices the picture inside.

The rookie detective gets the wallet, dusts off some floor dirt from it, and opens it again to look at the beautiful picture inside- it’s a lovely picture of two ladies, one of them is her chief detective.

The other lady looks familiar to Dahyun, but she can’t exactly remember where she has seen her before. Maybe her memory’s a bit blurred now because she’s also a bit tipsy already.

It’s a very lovely picture- the other girl is hugging her chief detective from behind, with one of her arms wrapped around Jeongyeon’s neck. One side of their cheeks pressed so closely together, and both of them are smiling so widely.

Dahyun can already feel a warm and fuzzy feeling just by looking at it. It’s a very lovely picture and it gets her curious.

When Sana finally notices what Dahyun is staring at, she gets slightly alarmed and worryingly looks at Jeongyeon who’s still giggling alone in her chair.

She then quickly snatches up the wallet from Dahyun and demands defensively-

“Let me pay the bills, Kim. Just assist our drunken boss over there.”

“Who is that girl with Detective Yoo?”

Dahyun curiously asks Sana. 

When Sana just looks at her, unable to find the rightful response because she doesn’t want to lie to Dahyun, the rookie detective asks her again-

“Is that.. her sister?”

Dahyun doesn’t want to assume, although the picture doesn’t really look like they’re sisters.

“No, she’s not her sister.” Sana briefly answers her.

“So she’s Detective Yoo’s friend then?”

“No.”

Sana and Dahyun immediately whips their head to the direction of their chief detective after hearing Jeongyeon’s answer.

Jeongyeon then carefully gets the wallet from Sana’s hand and looks at the picture fondly while she adds to her reply-

“She’s not just a friend.”

“Ohhhh” Dahyun perks up and her curiosity intensifies so she leans closer and asks her boss again-

“Is she your girlfriend then Detective Yoo?”

“A long time ago..”

Jeongyeon hovers her fingers on top of the picture, lightly tracing the face of the girl posing beside her.

And while she’s doing it, a new song suddenly plays loudly from the bar’s shuffled playlist, and Jeongyeon can’t help but just snicker at the unbelievable coincidence and timing.

“So who is she then exactly Detective Yoo?”

Dahyun stil presses on, eager to fully satisfy her curiousity.

“Track 1..”

Jeongyeon mumbles quietly to herself, while the upbeat music still plays in the background and her gaze is fixed on the picture on her wallet.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that boss.”

Dahyun apologizes because she didn’t clearly hear what she thought was Jeongyeon’s answer to her previous question.

Jeongyeon finally looks up to her squad mate, her eyes pensive yet loaded with what Sana can only identify as bitter longing. 

The detective smiles weakly when she finally answers Dahyun’s last question-

“She was my wife.”

*****

**10 years ago. SMPA Shooting Range Practice Field.**

“Not bad Myoui!”

Jeongyeon exclaims proudly when she gets behind Mina and sees the hole-filled _“suspect”_ in cardboard form, which the younger agent has targeted relentlessly just a few minutes ago.

They just finished their practice target shooting that night and the duo are now assessing their performance.

“What do you mean not bad? It’s worse. I was aiming for a headshot, not this.”

Mina, the ever perfectionist detective that she is, sighed and pointed to Jeongyeon the actual shot on her _suspect’s_ body.

Jeongyeon smiles and cheekily comments, while she gets the cardboard figure and points it to Mina’s face-

“Aren’t you a bit gory for a pretty face? You’ve already put gaping holes on the poor bastard’s neck. That should be enough to kill him, Myoui.”

“Still.. I need more practice. My shooting skills are still rusty.”

Mina sighs loudly and her shoulders sag a bit. 

Jeongyeon gently holds Mina’s shoulder, while her other hand is tapping her own chest when she announces proudly-

“That’s why you have me, right? The _Master Tactical Shooting Expert Detective Yoo Jeongyeon_. We can always practice together so you can improve on your shooting.”

Mina scoffs but she smiles when she comments-

“Ever so full of yourself, Yoo.”

“Yet I’m still you favorite partner in the field.”

Jeongyeon smugly grins and retorts in her usual confident and teasing tone.

“It’s not like I have a choice.”

“Oh even if you have- you know you’ll still choose me, Myoui.”

“In your dreams, Yoo.”

“But what should I do?” Jeongyeon teases further while she slowly wraps one of her arms over Mina’s shoulders and comments again-

“… my dreams always include you.”

Mina acted like she was trying to vomit because of her field partner’s sudden attack of cheesy pick-up line. 

She starts walking in a rush and pulls Jeongyeon along with her. Her field partner’s arm is still clung over her shoulders.

  
“Let’s go home now before my poor ears get violated again with your rusty pick-up lines.”

Jeongyeon just snickers and smiles at her field partner widely. 

When she notices the adorable blush that appears on her partner’s cheeks- Jeongyeon can’t help but tug Mina closer to her while they continue to walk towards her car together.

Once they’re finally settled inside the car, with Jeongyeon in the driver’s seat and Mina in the passenger seat, the junior agent holds the senior detective’s arm and speaks to Jeongyeon softly.

“Thank you, Yoo. I really appreciate you agreeing to train me like this even during outside of our working and mission hours. I just want to improve and be good at this too, you know..”

Mina gently rubs the detective’s arm while she adds sincerely-

“I really want to be your reliable partner in the field. I need to improve my shooting so I can always protect you if needed. I don’t ever want to see you hurt, especially if it’s because of me.”

Jeongyeon’s heart skips a beat at her field partner’s caring and thoughtful words. 

Mina is doing it again to her- 

She’s looking at Jeongyeon again with those damn beautiful eyes that are loaded with those damn affectionate and concerned stare, and she can feel Mina’s damn gentle and soft touches on her arm again- that Jeongyeon can’t help but feel weaker while her damn fragile heart starts to race faster.

When Mina throws her another gentle warm smile and squeezes her arm, that’s the last straw that Jeongyeon needs to gain enough courage and internally mutters to herself-

_“It’s now or never.”_

The detective fondly smiles back at Mina, before she reaches out for her car’s compartment, pulls out a CD and gives it to her field partner-

“Here. It’s for you.”

Mina accepts the CD with a look of confusion on her face-

“What’s this for?”

“It’s my gift.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing. I just want to give you a gift that’s all.”

Jeongyeon gulps nervously when Mina starts opening the CD and reads her customized playlist lyrics sheets.

After a few seconds, Mina looks at her with an amused grin on her face.

_“ **For My Daisy**.” - _Mina reads the playlist title aloud. It’s also the title of the CD cover which Jeongyeon has written and designed personally.

Her field partner is now raising one of her eyebrows, smirking while she teasingly comments-

“ _My Daisy_? Does this mean I’m your Daisy, Yoo? Are you claiming me now?”

The detective smirks back playfully, trying her very best to hide the nervousness that she feels inside-

“Yes, Myoui. We’re partners remember? You’re the Daisy to my Iris.”

When Mina just continues to look at her without saying anything, Jeongyeon chuckles nervously and she starts to regret her sudden decision of doing this now. 

So she tries to snatch the CD back from Mina’s hand and comments defensively-

“But it’s ok if you don’t want it Myoui. I coul-.”

Mina quickly pulls her hand away and interrupts Jeongyeon’s rambling. She smirks at the detective, before she puts the CD inside Jeongyeon’s car player and presses start.

“It’s my gift, Yoo. Let’s listen to it now.”

The two detectives then start to listen quietly while the drum beats of the first song resonate inside Jeongyeon’s car-

_Moving forward using all my breath_

_Making love to you was never second best_

Jeongyeon steals glances at her field partner while Mina listens to the music and the lyrics quietly.

_I'll stop the world and melt with you_

_You've seen the difference and_

_it's getting better all the time_

_There's nothing you and I won't do_

_I'll stop the world and melt with you_

When the chorus of the first song finishes playing, Mina looks down on the handwritten track list that she’s holding and smiles knowingly.

She looks back at the nervous detective again, intensely holds Jeongyeon’s gaze while a teasing smirk starts to curve up in the corner of her lips.

Mina then lifts up the CD cover and comments back with a playful tone-

“ _Your Daisy_ , huh.”

Jeongyeon holds Mina’s gaze with the same intensity and tilts her head slightly. 

When Mina doesn’t stray away from her loaded stare, she lets out a smug grin to mask the frantic tense beating that she feels inside her chest.

Her field partner is a genius hacker. Sooner or later Mina will eventually figure out her _message._

After a few seconds of just quietly staring at each other, Jeongyeon finally starts the car engine and drives Mina back home.

When Jeongyeon notices the junior agent’s _not-so-subtle_ stolen glances and knowing smiles at her, while the songs in her playlist continue to serenade them during their entire drive back home, Jeongyeon figures- 

maybe Mina already did.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 01: I Melt With You by Modern English
> 
> Next Chapter: We’ll finally get to meet the present Detective Myoui Mina aka Daisy.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in this chapter. 
> 
> P.S. Thank you to the cool-motorcycle-rider-Yoo Jeongyeon in ICSM MV for the fic inspiration. 
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	2. Track 02: A Thousand Miles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris finally meets the present Daisy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/ Trigger warning for sensitive readers- although just in passing, there is some mention of murder & other crimes.

*****

**One week ago. Somewhere around Busan.**

Mina squints her eyes slightly and focuses on the target in front of her. 

She exhales a couple of deep breaths while she clenches both of her fists, and raises her closed hands in front of her chest.

The boy standing across her gulps nervously when Mina’s focused eyes glint with fiery grit, while the detective shifts her stance into a full on attacking mode.

Mina carefully steps back her right foot, accurately gauging the required distance to maximize the attack. She sends a faint smug smile at the boy, before she finally runs into him while she turns her body around mid-air, and kicks the solid chunk of wood that the boy is holding.

When Mina finally lands onto the floor again, the wood is now broken into smaller pieces and scattered below her, as loud tiny claps and excited cheers can now be heard across the entire room-

“Teacher Mina is really good at flying kick!”

One of the kids in white taekwondo uniform claps and chirps excitedly after seeing their teacher execute the move flawlessly.

Mina, also in her taekwondo uniform and black belt on, faces her excited class of eight-year-olds and replies to one of her students,

“That is not a flying kick, Eunbi. That’s an example of a back kick.”

She walks to the kids closer, crouches down to Eunbi’s height level, smiles and gently taps the young girl’s head.

“Have you followed the steps, Eunbi-yah? How about you show me how to do it this time around?”

Eunbi smiles widely at her teacher, all of her cute tiny teeth showing while she eagerly nods her head and excitedly prepares herself to try their lesson for today.

*****

Mina’s taekwondo class ended a bit late that afternoon. She’s now resting inside her already empty classroom while she gently wipes the drops of sweat in her forehead.

Eunbi then suddenly enters the classroom and hops towards her teacher excitedly with both of her hands in her back. When she reaches Mina, she announces to her teacher in a giddy tone.

“Teacher, I have a gift for you. Are you excited?”

Mina smiles warmly at her student, 

“Of course, Eunbi-yah. May I know what’s your gift for me this time?”

When Eunbi finally shows to Mina what she’s hiding behind, Mina’s heart stills as soon as she sees it. She gently takes the blue flower from the young girl’s hands and replies softly,

“Thank you Eunbi-yah. It’s beautiful.”

“Do you like it Teacher?”

“I love it.”

Eunbi smiles so widely after hearing her favorite teacher’s validation to her gift. She sits beside Mina and begins to babble with the endearing innocent tone of an eight-year-old child,

“I’m so happy that you like it, Teacher! But why is your favorite flower, Iris? It’s really hard to find that flower in autumn. My mom said you should have just chosen Rose as your favorite flower instead. She even scolded me when I asked for her help to get me an Iris for you. I actually agree with my mom. I think roses are more beautiful than irises. Don’t you think so too, Teacher?”

Mina smiles widely at Eunbi’s rambling and lets out a fond laugh while she replies to her student.

“Yes, I think roses are beautiful flowers too. And if you think roses are more beautiful then that’s ok, Eunbi-yah. We can have our own favorite flowers and that is fine. But for me, I love irises- they are the most beautiful flowers in my eyes.”

Eunbi nods at her, “I understand now, Teacher. Will you give me roses then next time since it’s my favorite?”

The young girl asks her with hopeful eyes and Mina can only smile back and replies with a promise,

“If you execute the back kick perfectly then I will give you a bouquet of roses.”

“Really teacher? I will practice harder now! I want a bouquet of roses from you!”

Eunbi then jumps excitedly before she finally exits the room feeling much giddier than before.

Mina smiles at the door where her young student just exited. She then looks down on the lone blue Iris flower that she’s holding.

She stares at the flower with an equal mix of fondness and longing while she gently traces each of its large blue petals along. Mina touches them so gentle as if they’re the most fragile things on earth- as if the petals are going to break if she presses her fingers harder.

Mina stays like that for a while, just quietly admiring the Iris in her hand, when her phone suddenly rings- awakening her from the deep pensive thought that she’s having.

“Hey Ji, what’s up?”

“How are you, Mina?”

“I’m good. Just resting up a bit. My class just ended.”

“Oh, how are the kids?”

“They’re lovely as always but still super active. They make me exhausted every day. But it’s ok since they’re keeping me fit and still on shape, at least.”

“That’s good then. Since you need to be extremely fit specially now.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got good news for you.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve finally got you on a case, Mina.”

Mina pauses for a bit, before she utters her reply quietly,

“Ji.. you didn’t have to.”

“I don’t have to. But I need you in this case. We need you in this case.”

When Mina remains quiet on the other end, Jihyo speaks again-

“You’re worried about the kids, aren’t you?”

“Yeah..”

“It’s ok Mina, pretty sure the school can find another good teacher to replace you.”

“But I’m gonna miss them. Besides I’m their favorite teacher now. They love me so much, Ji.” 

Mina tries to dramatically joke but she really means her first statement.

Jihyo smiles, fully knowing what her friend is really saying-

“I’ll take it as a yes then? I know you miss the field life.”

Mina can only let out a small sigh, Jihyo still knows her well.

“I do.. But.. but Ji, I’m afraid I’m a little rusty now in terms of you know- firing and stuff.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you access to one of our private training facilities. Although you don’t really need to since you can sneak in yourself in there very well if you wish to.” 

Jihyo comments cheekily and she can hear Mina’s huffs on the other end before she continues explaining again-

“You can secretly train in there for a week before you meet the team. A week is enough for your caliber, Mina. You’ll get back in shape in no time.”

“Copy on that, Ji.” A hint of excitement is now in Mina’s tone.

Jihyo then pauses and contemplates for a few seconds, before she finally reveals the other detail of the case to her friend-

“Oh and just as a heads up, you’ll be joining Jeongyeon’s team in investigating this case.”

Silence. 

Jihyo waits patiently- for that’s the only thing she can do now. She can’t hold her friend’s hands like what she did with Jeongyeon before.

So the chief waits.. and waits. Until her friend is ready to reply again. 

She can hear Mina’s loud exhales on the other end of the line, before her friend finally speaks quietly, her voice unsure and anxious.

“Is she.. is she ok with it?” 

“Not really, but Jeong doesn’t have a choice. How about you, Mina? You’re ok with it?”

“If I say I’m not, would you let me off this case then?”

“No. I’m afraid I can’t, Mina.”

The line then becomes quiet again, and Jihyo already knows the next question that she’ll hear from her friend.

“How is she, Ji?’’ 

“She’s still managing, I guess. You should too.”

“I am now..”

“I hope so, Mina.” Jihyo sincerely answers her. Then a quiet calculated pause ensues before the chief speaks again, her tone quieter and more concerned, “Are you really sure you’re gonna be ok?”

A tired smile appears on Mina’s lips, “You know the answer to that, Ji.” 

To be honest, Jihyo hates it- she hates the fact that she has to put both of her beloved friends into this kind of situation. 

But she has to wear her Chief hat. And wearing her Chief hat means that she needs to put both of her best detectives for this new case.

All the station chief can only do now is to try and lighten up the mood so she replies with a snark, and hopes that her old sassy friend will bite it back-

“Because if you’re not- I swear I’m gonna give you a desk job instead of the field work as soon as you step into our station again.”

Mina scoffs, she knows what Jihyo is doing so she replies with a feigned annoyance.

“After all these years, you’re still the same thorny Rose that I know. I’m really gonna report you to the higher ups for powerplay this time.”

“At least I’m not a softie unlike some pretentious mushy Daisy that I know.”

Mina finally laughs loudly at that, and Jihyo’s heart warms by just hearing her friend’s laughter again.

“I miss you, Ji.”

“I miss you too, Mina.”

When their call ends, Mina looks down on the Iris flower beside her. She picks up the flower, slowly slides her fingers along the edge of its blue petals, and quietly sighs to herself. 

Just thinking about how she has to put up a brave front again is already making her heart both exhausted and aching.

*****

**Present time. Jeongyeon’s home in Seoul.**

Jeongyeon has been rummaging her closet for almost an hour now. She should have been preparing to go to their station by this time but she can’t find any suitable clothes to wear today.

Not that she always mind dressing up. She usually doesn’t care what she wears- as long as it makes her comfortable and agile. Her attire is the least of her worries specially in her line of work, where she always finds herself getting dirt and blood stains whenever she’s chasing some criminals or investigating for case clues.

But the chief detective is extremely conscious of her outfit today. Of course it has nothing to do with today being the day her ex-wife will finally meet her Squad. 

Nope, that is definitely not the reason why Jeongyeon has been staring at the pile of clothes in her bed.

She just wants to look cool today that’s all. Someone who looks completely unaffected. Someone who looks like she has fully moved on.

_“You look so hot in that leather jacket. I’d like to pin you on the wall whenever I see you in that fit.”_

A sweet voice suddenly passes by Jeongyeon’s ears when she picks up one of her leather jackets from the pile. She then makes a decision and chooses a pair of black jeans from her closet. 

The chief detective finally drives herself for work that day, determined and prepared to look cool and completely unaffected.

*****

The Elite Squad is now inside the Station Chief’s office, while they wait for the arrival of Jihyo and their new squad member.

Sana and Dahyun are sitting beside each other on the larger couch. Sana is quietly reading the files of the new case assigned to them, while the rookie detective is furiously typing on her laptop again.

When Sana looks up from the files and notices her agitated squad leader sitting across them on the smaller sofa, she comments blandly,

“Can you try to sit still for once, Yoo?”

The chief detective replies in a defensive manner,

“What do you mean? I am sitting still. Can you not mind my seating position Minatozaki, and just focus on reading the case files?”

Sana huffs at her squad leader and resumes her reading again. A few minutes have passed and Jeongyeon starts hearing loud cheers from outside of Jihyo’s office.

Dahyun looks up from her laptop screen and perks up excitedly,

“They’re probably here already! I just found out that Detective Myoui is as famous as our boss here, so the veteran detectives must be excited to meet her again.”

_“The team is actually inside waiting for us. You’re ready to meet them now, Mina?”_

Jeongyeon hears their Station Chief’s voice just outside of the office door and a panic quickly settles inside her.

As soon as she sees the office door handle turns slowly, the chief detective quickly reaches out for one of the magazines scattered on the coffee table, and pretends to be reading in order to hide her face. After seeing how their chief detective reacted, Dahyun looks scandalized and Sana is trying her best to stifle her laughter.

After only a few seconds, Jeongyeon can now hear footsteps approaching while Jihyo introduces her squad members to the _newcomer-_

“This is Detective Kim Dahyun. She just joined our unit this year. She specializes in Cyber Security like yourself. So I think you two will get along really well.”

“Detective Kim, this is Senior Detective Myoui Mina. Try to learn a lot from her and extract every bit of genius from this detective if you can.” Jihyo jokes and Dahyun just shyly nods.

“Please to meet you, Detective Kim.”

And there’s that voice again. 

Jeongyeon hears her voice again, but this time- it’s for real now. The sweet gentle voice that Jeongyeon was very accustomed to many years ago. The voice that used to scold her, the voice that used to whisper love promises to her, the breathy voice that she used to feel on her neck every morning when she wakes up.

There’s that ever so familiar sweet voice again, and Jeongyeon’s heart sinks as soon as she hears it. She hates the fact that she’s sure Mina is smiling at Dahyun, just by recognizing the tone of her ex-wife’s greeting.

“I’m happy to meet you too, Detective Myoui. I’ve read your past cases. I’m your fan now. I can’t believe you’re a lot prettier in person too.”

Jeongyeon hears Dahyun comments giddily while Jihyo continues to do her customary round of introductions- 

“This is Detective Minatozaki Sana, I don’t think you need introduction for her anymore right?”

“Of course, Chief. Good to see you again Minatozaki, how have you been?”

“Just the usual kind of shitty. How about you Myoui? How’s America? I bet the cases in there are much more exciting than what we have here.”

Jeongyeon tries to subtly lean closer so she can clearly hear the answer to Sana’s question. She’s curious as well. She’s been curious for years now.

But there’s a momentary pause- the room eventually gets quiet and the chief detective furrows her brows behind the magazine.

Jihyo then speaks again in her commanding tone, “You can catch up later. Let’s finish the introductions for now.”

After a few seconds, Jeongyeon can now see two pairs of shoes from under the magazine that she’s holding, carefully approaching her spot.

“And this is our capable Squad Leader Chief Detective Yoo Jeongyeon. Well.. that’s it I guess. I don’t think you also need more introductions about her. Anyway, Detective Yoo here will be leading the team in investigating this case.”

Jihyo then clears her throat loudly and demands to the chief detective,

“Detective Yoo, can you stop pretending to read that magazine now and greet your new squad member here?”

“I’m not pretending to read. Just a second Chief Park, I’m just finishing this last paragraph.”

Jeongyeon quickly responds, trying to stand by her cover. There’s no way she can back out now.

“Detective Yoo must be in desperate need for some tips now seeing how she’s extremely focused in reading that magazine.” 

The chief detective hears her ex-wife’s comment, and she instantly recognizes the hint of teasing and sarcasm in her tone.

The loud annoying laughter of their Station Chief immediately follows after, so Jeongyeon gets curious and she finally lowers the magazine slowly.

But she’s still not prepared really. Her heart jumps almost instantly, because as soon as her view gets cleared- Mina is apparently looking at her too. And the world seems to stop around them when their eyes finally meet again, for the first time in three years.

Jeongyeon can feel the quickening pace of her heart when Mina holds her gaze and their eyes remain locked to each other’s. It suddenly feels like she’s being transported back to 10 years ago, when she first realized her feelings for her ex-wife. The pain in her heart temporarily vanishes because looking back into Mina’s eyes again now, she remembers what her ex-wife really means to her, despite everything that happened.

It’s been years, and Mina’s eyes still lure her in. 

Mina freezes on the spot as soon as Jeongyeon’s face comes into clear view. She lets out a deep breath she wasn’t even aware she’s holding when the chief detective continues to stare back at her. She forces herself to blink and to shift her gaze away somewhere- just anywhere away from her ex-wife’s stare. Anywhere that won’t let her walls crumble by just looking into a familiar pair of beautiful eyes that she’s been longing to see.

The chief detective is finally awakened from her trance when she hears Mina clears her throat. She then notices the sly smirk that appears on her ex-wife’s face while she looks down to the magazine that Jeongyeon is still holding.

Jeongyeon furrows her brows in confusion while she flips the magazine cover.

_What even is their issue with this magazine.._

To say that Jeongyeon is shocked after seeing the title is an understatement.

A rush of panic and embarrassment quickly settles inside her when she internally reads the cover title printed in large red font on top of a very erotic picture of a couple-

_“Sex Advice: 10 Tips To Have Your Lover Orgasm More Often.”_

Jeongyeon suddenly feels like her soul is leaving her body. She can’t believe that the first ever encounter she has with her ex-wife after 3 years is for Mina to see her _reading_ this kind of trash magazine with a very scandalous cover title. 

So much for looking cool in front of her ex-wife. All her preparations earlier are instantly flushed down the drain. 

The chief detective then tries to salvage her reputation so she blurts out loudly in the room, quickly redirecting all the attention to her-

“Excuse me Detective Myoui, for your information I don’t need to read tips like this.”

“Detective Yoo, for your information- I didn’t ask.” Mina quickly snaps back.

“Of course you wouldn’t ask.”

Jeongyeon huffs, a smug grin now plastered on her face. She can’t let her ex-wife win this conversation. She needs to look superior in front of her Squad too.

“You of all people should know that I don’t need to read articles like that. You already know I could make my lover reach the clouds of heaven multiple times, right Detective Myoui?”

The chief detective comments cheekily while she stands from her seat and walks closer to her ex-wife, trying to exude dominance.

Mina is caught off guard by Jeongyeon’s comment so she immediately looks at Jihyo’s side. 

The red blush that appears on her ex-wife’s cheeks makes Jeongyeon chuckle, while she walks closer to her squad feeling like a winner.

“Detective Yoo. I don’t think there’s a need for us to know that.”

Jihyo scolds her, a disgusted look visible on the chief’s face.

“I guess Detective Yoo still hasn’t outgrown her habit of sharing too much information to people. Old habits really die hard then.” 

Mina finally recovers and speaks again.

“I’d rather share too much information than directly lie to someone’s face.”

Jeongyeon’s sharp words are loaded and Mina knows it, so she tries to divert the topic again.

“Says by someone who just lied a while ago- saying she doesn’t need to read the magazine when you clearly made us all wait here just for you to finish the last paragraph.”

“I – I didn’t- ” Jeongyeon stutters guiltily. She quickly shies away from Mina’s glare and shifts the attention to their Station Chief- “Why do you even have that kind of magazine in your office?!”

“I don’t know, maybe our cleaning staff put that in my table.” Jihyo replies calmly.

“You’re clearly reading it, aren’t you?” Jeongyeon pushes the blame to Jihyo.

Jihyo looks at her detective friend amused, knowing full well what Jeongyeon is trying to do. So she smiles playfully and replies with her eyebrow raised-

“Guess you’ll never know if I’m reading it, Yoo. But everyone in this room now knows that you have read it.”

When Dahyun and Sana laughs quietly on the side, Jeongyeon really should have known better that redirecting the blame to Jihyo is a hundred levels of wrong idea.

Mina then notices that her ex-wife is fully uneasy and embarrassed now in front of her squad, so she quickly cuts in, shifting everyone’s focus on her-

“So when are we having our meeting to discuss the case?”

Jihyo then immediately transforms into her Chief mode again after hearing the reminder,

“Oh right, I almost forgot. Come on team, follow me.”

And the entire squad exited the office while they follow their Station Chief outside to one of the private investigation rooms of their precinct.

The chief detective then hurriedly walks past her ex-wife while she leads her squad into the other room, and Mina freely smiles at Jeongyeon’s back when she finally notices the jacket that her ex-wife is wearing.

*****

“This is Kwon Dongmin. Male, 29 years old. Average Korean citizen.” Jihyo begins to explain to the elite squad sitting in front of her while a picture of a man is projected in the room’s whiteboard.

“His younger brother was kidnapped ten months ago by who seems to be a skilled hacker. When his brother was kidnapped, Kwon was threatened by the suspect to kill his brother and release all of his secret accounts and private messages including the information of his mistresses. The police never really captured the suspect until after three weeks of chasing him- Kwon’s brother was just miraculously released, alive and unscathed. Kwon never really revealed to the police what the suspect was asking of him. ”

Jihyo then shifts to the next slide, the screen is now projecting a bullet proof of information,

“But then after a month of freeing his brother, the police received an encrypted data revealing all of Kwon’s secret shady deals and dirty laundries, which include but not limited to drug dealing and sexual assaults. Kwon then tries to escape only to be found dead in a private Electrical Power Plant in Daegu two weeks after that.”

“The police was having a hard time investigating his death, because every cctv footage of the power plant during the incident was corrupted. And to be honest, the police did not even prioritize his case anymore after finding out who Kwon really is.”

“Seems like our suspect is a cyber vigilante who only kills bad people.” Sana scoffs while looking at the board.

“Except that he hasn’t.” Their squad leader speaks firmly when she looks at her team and continues with the same serious voice, “- killed only bad people I mean. Next slide, Ji.”

It’s now Jeongyeon who explains the next slide this time,

“This is Kim Donggun, Male, 57 years old. A senior accountant to a large private company. His 25 year-old son was kidnapped 5 months ago. Kim experienced the same cyber threatening as with Kwon. The initial investigation files show the same pattern with the two cases. Kim’s embezzlement and secret shady deals to his company were also exposed by the culprit eventually.”

Jeongyeon then stands up and clicks the next slide, “Except this time, Kim is still alive and is now in jail. But his son was found dead, three days after his father was captured by the police.”

“But did the suspect leak any incriminating information on Kim’s son?” Sana asks their chief, her brows furrowed, signifying she’s thinking deeply about the current clues presented to them.

“No he didn’t. Kim’s son is just an average Korean guy.”

Jeongyeon then looks at Mina, both silently fishing for information and testing if her old field partner is still as prepared and sharp witted as before.

“I don’t think he’s just an average Korean guy. I’ve already done some initial _research_ on him. His habits definitely don’t suggest he’s as squeaky clean as what the police’s initial investigation showed him to be.”

Mina quickly disagrees with her and Jeongyeon internally feels proud- _yup, still the same._

Her ex-wife then continues while she puts her hand on her chin and wonders loudly,

“But why didn’t the suspect release any dirt on him? Clearly there must be something about Kim’s son. But why only exposed his father?”

“Exactly, Mina!” Jeongyeon quickly exclaims. She couldn’t hide her proud smile anymore when she immediately agrees to her ex-wife without realizing what she just addressed her.

“Right, Jeong?” Mina is caught up in the moment too when she excitedly replied to her ex-wife.

Both of them instantly freeze when they look at each other after realizing what just happened.

Jihyo then lets out a wide proud smile while she claps her hands- producing a booming echo sound across the entire room and exclaims, 

“I knew I made the right decision in having you two in this case.”

Both detectives simultaneously clear their throat awkwardly while Mina pretends to read the case folder in front of her, and Jeongyeon proceeds in her explanation-

“Going back to our case- our suspect apparently is on the move again. And his probable next target is quite ambitious I must say.” 

When Jeongyeon shifts to the next slide, everyone in the room gets quiet. Each of them knows the next person whose picture is now being projected in the board- in fact most people in Korea probably knows him. He’s famous. He’s the current Mayor of Seoul.

“A month ago, the Mayor’s son was also kidnapped and the situation is exactly the same as what happened to Kwon and Kim. The suspect is threatening him again, but the Mayor was not buying him initially knowing how in Kwon’s case- his brother was eventually released.”

“But until now the suspect hasn’t released the Mayor’s son yet, and he has already sent snippets of the Mayor’s infidelity to his wife. This has to be the longest period the suspect has kept his kidnapped victim by his side. So naturally the Mayor panics, and this case is escalated to us hence all of you here.”

A video clip is then played on the next slide and Jeongyeon speaks again after it has finished playing.

“That’s a cctv footage showing the outside street of Mayor’s house- on the exact same day where his son was last seen.”

“That’s a patched clip. That’s not the real footage of that day.”

Mina immediately comments matter-of-factly. Jeongyeon is initially surprised to hear this, but then again she realized – well this is _the_ Detective Myoui Mina speaking in front of them. Jihyo and the entire squad are now looking at her while Mina begins her explanation.

“The district office uploads but then permanently deletes all their cctv footages of the entire village every after 3 weeks, because that’s a lot of data to store. But I managed to hack and recover all of their deleted footages for the past 6 months, right after Jihyo sent me the copy of investigation files last week.”

Mina then stands up to rewind the footage, pauses to a specific scene and points to the projected screen-

“And that clip- that’s the exact same footage four months ago. Every single second from 46:19 - 79:45 is exactly the same. That’s exactly 33 minutes and 26 seconds of old cctv footage patched seamlessly over last month’s clip. The culprit patched the clip on probably the exact time when the actual kidnapping happened.”

Jeongyeon then walks closer to the projected screen- she and Mina are now standing on the opposite side of the white board.

“The suspect must have assumed that no one would discover that it’s an old clip, because the patched cctv footage would already be permanently deleted by the time he executes the crime. Certainly he’s someone who knows about the district office’s cctv refresh cycles. ”

Everyone nods their head to their squad leader, including Mina who comments again-

“We need to start interviewing people at that office then, and also begin inspecting the area around the neighbourhood.”

“Wow!” Dahyun, who’s been quiet all along touches her glasses and exclaims loudly, redirecting everyone’s focus on her.

“That’s so cool Detective Myoui! I didn’t even notice the cctv patching. It was overlayed perfectly. And how did you manage to recover those permanently deleted clips? And you even remembered the exact date and time of that patched clip after watching 6 months old of past footages?”

“Detective Myoui has a photographic memory.” 

Sana casually answers her squad mate as if it’s the most normal thing on earth. 

Dahyun’s eyes opened wide and sparkle with amazement. Mina purses her lips subtly- she’s really not in the mood now to entertain curious questions about her special ability. So she quickly changes the topic to the one that will definitely ignites Dahyun’s interest more-

“Everything can be recovered from the web, Detective Kim. Once you have uploaded something in there- it’s gonna stay in there forever.. somewhere. You just have to crack the right algorithm to collate all fragments of it.”

Mina then slowly scans the entire room and looks at everyone while she calmly explains,

“Even if you thought you have permanently deleted them, you really didn’t. We can recover anything in the deep dark web- ”

When her eyes finally land at Jeongyeon, she ends her explanation with a knowing smirk on her lips-

“Even your deleted facebook search history.”

The chief detective instantly looks guilty after hearing it, so she defensively responds back to her ex-wife before she can even stop herself.

“You promised not to hack my search history.”

“Did I say anything Detective Yoo? I’m not even pertaining to you. It was just a generic statement.”

“You’re looking at me when you say that!”

“I looked at everyone in the room. But why do you sound so guilty, Detective Yoo? ” 

Mina then walks closer to Jeongyeon, her arms crossed in front of her chest, while she raises her eyebrow and teases her ex-wife,

“Why? Is there someone you’re stalking in there lately?”

Jeongyeon gulps feeling equally guilty and nervous. She’s scrambling her mind for something snarky to get back at her ex-wife again. She cannot let Mina have the upper hand. She must not let her ex-wife win. She must not-

“Well what can I expect from you, Detective Myoui? What else can I expect from the girl who has a history of breaking her promises?”

The chief detective might have said it with a sharp loud tone that Mina’s teasing face immediately falls flat after hearing it. Mina tries to shift away from Jeongyeon’s judging gaze and forces herself to regain her composure again. 

But the subtle twitch in her ex-wife’s lips doesn’t go unnoticed by the chief detective, and Jeongyeon instantly regrets her spiteful remark when she notices the heaviness in Mina’s shoulders.

Their case meeting eventually ends smoothly, but only with Jihyo now looking worriedly at her two closest friends.

*****

That night, Jeongyeon decides to create another encrypted group chat for their new squad instead of just adding Mina to their existing one. 

**IRIS** added **Orchid** to the group

 **IRIS** added **Lily** to the group

 **IRIS** added **Daisy** to the group

**Orchid (9:23 PM)**

Hello!!!!! 

Hi Daisy, welcome to the team! 😎 😎

**Lily (9:23 PM)**

Daisy, good to have you back again.

**Daisy (9:24 PM)**

Thanks Lily & Orchid

**IRIS** changed the group name to **IRIS’ Minions 2.0**

 **Daisy** changed the group name to **Elite Flower Squad**

**IRIS (9:28 PM)**

Who changed our cool group name?

Probably a corny person. 

The new name is so corny.

**IRIS** changed the group name to **3 Pretty Flowers & 1 Ugly thorny Daisy**

 **Daisy** changed the group name to **3 Fresh Flowers & 1 Rotten Iris**

**Daisy (9:30 PM)**

What an incapable detective who doesn’t know that the Daisy flower stem doesn’t have thorns.

**IRIS** changed the group name to **3 Cool Detectives & 1 Florist**

**Orchid (9:31 PM)**

Boss Daisy is a florist too?!

That’s cool!!

**Lily (9:31 PM)**

Orchid, see my DM.

**Orchid** changed the group name to **Elite Flower Squad**

**Orchid (9:33 PM)**

Sorry…

**Daisy (9:34 PM)**

Great. The team has decided then.

**IRIS (9:34 PM)**

What the???

Kid, I thought you’re on my side?!

**IRIS** changed the group name to **IRIS’ Minions 2.0**

_[ERROR: task cannot be completed]_

**IRIS** changed the group name to **IRIS’ Minions 2.0**

_[ERROR: task cannot be completed]_

**IRIS** changed the group name to **Daisy stop hacking the group chat!**

_[ERROR: task cannot be completed]_

**IRIS** changed the group name to **This is unfair!!!**

_[ERROR: task cannot be completed]_

**IRIS** changed the group name to **IRIS is Minions 2.0**

_[Group name is successfully updated and permanently locked.]_

**IRIS (9:40 PM)**

That was just a typo!!

*****

In the morning, the Elite Squad rides in Jeongyeon’s car from the station to investigate the Mayor’s village and gather more evidence for their case. 

After interviewing everyone inside Mayor’s home, including all family members and household staff alike, the team is then split to investigate the different areas of the village surrounding his house. 

While Jeongyeon is surveying the area in a far end corner of the Mayor’s residential street, something caught up her eyes when she looks up to one of the tall electrical utility poles scattered around the village.

She then wears her specialized sunglasses and zoomed into the post where she finds a small grey box similar to a transformer. But the chief detective knows her electrical equipment and electronic gadgets very well. So Jeongyeon zooms in further and discovers a camera chip lens sneakily camouflaging as the box’s logo.

When Jeongyeon turns around to gauge where the camera is probably panning to, the chief detective nods her head and smiles in satisfaction. She looks up to the electrical pole again, takes a snap of the device from her sunglasses, and uploads it to their squad’s database. 

After the upload is finished, Jeongyeon waves at the device cockily and raises both of her hands for a thumbs up- trying to annoy whoever is watching her behind that camera.

And in a private room somewhere, a person in a big black hoodie snickers when a tall lady in her leather jacket and sunglasses appears waving enthusiastically in one of the monitor screens. The person then gets the opened bag of chips from the table filled with burner phones and cables, lazily rests his back on his computer chair, and quietly mutters in the middle of chips crackling inside his mouth-

“Hello there... Detective Yoo Jeongyeon.”

*****

It’s already past 6pm when Jeongyeon and Mina finished interviewing the locals and surveying the entire neighbourhood. The two detectives are now waiting for Sana and Dahyun to arrive at their meeting place so they can all go back to the station together.

Mina is standing just a few feet away from Jeongyeon’s car, and she is silently observing the chief detective while Jeongyeon is talking to someone over the phone.

“Are you kidding me?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” 

She narrows her eyes when she heard Jeongyeon suddenly raised her voice.

“You’re leaving me alone with her?”

Jeongyeon tries to lower her voice by covering her mouth, but Mina still heard it.

After a few seconds, the chief detective ends the call and lets out a loud frustrated sigh before she walks towards Mina.

“That was Sana. She has already left with Dahyun because apparently- Detective Kim needs to redeem her voucher of free chocolate milk shake for two tonight. Because apparently- today is the expiration date of that voucher. Today..of all days.” Jeongyeon scoffs, “What a bloody perfect timing.”

Mina looks at Jeongyeon quietly while she rambles to her. She knows her ex-wife very well. The hint of worry behind the chief detective’s hurried and annoyed tone doesn’t escape her. She senses that Jeongyeon is already bothered at the mere thought of being alone with her- without the company of their other squad mates.

“I can call a cab if you really hate being alone with me. You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t force myself to be with someone that despises me. I’m not that kind of person, Detective Yoo.”

Mina replies to Jeongyeon with a straight face and a serious tone.

When the chief detective didn’t respond back and just looks at her, Mina turns around and starts walking to the other direction.

“Myoui, wait..” 

Jeongyeon calls out so Mina halts on her step.

“Y- You can ride in my car.. We can go to the station together.”

Mina slowly turns around and faces her ex-wife,

“It’s ok. I’m not going back to the station anymore. I’m going home.”

“Then I’ll drive you home..” Jeongyeon pauses, “..wherever that is now.”

“I’m fine Detective Yoo. You don’t have to be so polite. I understand it perfectly.”

Jeongyeon continues to stare at her for a few seconds before she utters her reply,

“..despise is a heavy word.. I don’t..” Jeongyeon lets out a tired exhale. 

The chief detective’s serious stare at her ex-wife slightly softens when she speaks again with a tone a little quieter, a little more vulnerable- “I don’t despise you if that’s what’s worrying you.”

Jeongyeon then opens her car passenger door and signals for Mina to hop in.

“So come on now Myoui, I’ll drive you home.”

Mina just stays at her spot for a couple of seconds while she silently looks at the chief detective. But knowing her ex-wife, Jeongyeon is sure that Mina is already assessing internally all the possible scenarios that could happen if she agrees to ride with the chief detective alone.

After a while, Mina finally gave in and starts walking back towards the car again. She hops on the passenger seat quietly while Jeongyeon circles around the car to enter the driver’s seat.

Their drive during the first few minutes was purely awkward and quiet. A complete opposite of what they were during their first encounter again on the station. This is what Jeongyeon is afraid of- the uncomfortable heavy silence between them when they both stop their bickering at each other.

Suddenly, both detectives don’t know how to start a conversation. It’s only been 20 minutes since Jeongyeon begins driving but it already feels like forever to her. This uneasy tension between them is killing her inside, and Mina just continues to stare at her side of the car window without even uttering a single word since their drive started.

The chief detective then presses her car radio button and plays some music to at least shake off the awkward quietness inside the car. But she couldn’t find a song that she likes on the radio so she keeps on switching channels.

“Is your player still working?”

Mina finally speaks after a while, her tone quiet and a little unsure.

“Yes.” 

Jeongyeon can only answer a brief reply, while a look of confusion forms on her face when Mina starts to search for something in her bag.

When the traffic light turns to red, Jeongyeon tries to take a subtle peek and she’s surprised to get a glimpse of what seems to be a cd player inside the younger detective’s bag. 

_“Why does she have a cd player with her in 2020?”_

The chief detective internally wonders.

“Can I?” 

Mina speaks again, and perhaps Jeongyeon’s heart stops beating for a second when she sees her customized cd in her ex-wife’s hand. She couldn’t believe what she’s seeing.

Jeongyeon can only nod as a response while she continues to wonder,

_“Does she bring ~~our~~ that CD playlist with her all the time?” _

When the traffic light turns to green, Mina inserts the cd quietly, presses start, and stares at her side of the car window again while she listens to the music. 

The upbeat drum beats and guitar strums of the first track are now playing in the background, but Jeongyeon can only recognize the thumping of her heart and the silent yet loaded undertone that circulates between them- after Mina has pulled out that special cd from her bag.

There are a lot of questions running in Jeongyeon’s mind right now, but she only has the courage to quietly voice out one, halfway through the first track-

“I thought you threw it already?”

Mina slowly turns to face her, and she looks at Jeongyeon’s side profile with a forlorn stare, knowing full well that the chief detective is focused on her driving-

“Why would I throw it? I love that playlist.”

Jeongyeon’s hold on her steering wheel tightens and thought of stopping the car to face her ex-wife instantly crosses her mind, but the chief detective internally restrains herself from actually doing so.

The silence between them resumes while the first track continues to play. Jeongyeon then notices that Mina is subtly tapping her fingers on her lap, in tune with the song. She knows that her ex-wife is just holding herself back to fully sing along to the music and bop her head. Both of them always do that before- whenever they play her customized cd in the car during their spontaneous road trips many years ago.

“You can sing along, I wouldn’t mind.” Jeongyeon quietly comments, her eyes are still fixed on the road.

“It’s ok. I’ll just listen. It’s enough for me.”

Jeongyeon narrows her eyes when she notices the hint of sadness in her ex-wife’s voice. And when she quickly glances at the rearview mirror, Mina’s face is gloomy while looking at the blurring city lights outside of the car window.

Despite the pain still lingering in her heart, it’s still in Jeongyeon’s DNA to do whatever it takes just to see a genuine smile on Mina’s face. So when the traffic light turns to red again and the first track ends playing, the chief detective decides to park all of her questions for now, while a crazy idea suddenly pops into her head. 

So as soon as the tinkling piano intro from the second song starts, Jeongyeon raises her hand on her steering wheel and plays her finger on it as if mimicking a piano player. She looks at Mina with a grin on her face while she bops her head and lip syncs to the first verse-

_Making my way downtown_

_Walking fast, faces pass and I'm homebound_

_Staring blankly ahead_

_Just making my way_

_Making my way through the crowd_

Mina looks utterly surprised at the sudden playfulness in Jeongyeon’s mood, but the chief detective notices the very subtle smile that graces her ex-wife’s lips, albeit briefly.

It only motivates Jeongyeon more- _she’s getting there_. So the chief detective sways her body and finally sings along loudly to the second verse while still grinning at her ex-wife.

_And I need you_

_And I miss you_

_And now I wonder_

Mina cannot hide her smile anymore at Jeongyeon’s sudden goofiness, while the chief detective sings the chorus to her loudly- all with exaggerated pseudo piano playing and bopping of her head.

_If I could fall into the sky_

_Do you think time would pass me by?_

_Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles_

_If I could just see you tonight_

When the first chorus ends, the traffic light turns to green, and so Jeongyeon pauses on her antics and resumes driving.

_It's always times like these_

_When I think of you_

_And I wonder if you ever think of me_

Jeongyeon’s heart skips a beat when she suddenly hears Mina’s lovely voice, as her ex-wife sings along to the second verse. 

She tries to quickly steal a glance at Mina in the middle of her driving, and the younger detective is now looking at her fondly, a small smile finally on her lips while she sings the rest of the song to her.

_Cause everything's so wrong and I don't belong_

_Living in your precious memory_

_Cause I need you_

_And I miss you_

_And now I wonder_

When the second chorus finally hits, both of them are now singing along to the song- their beautiful voices blending well with the music inside Jeongyeon’s car. Suddenly, Jeongyeon feels like it’s 2015 all over again. Back when everything feels so happy, full of love, and pain-free.

Once the bridge of the song starts, the traffic light shifts to red again so Jeongyeon fully turns her head to look at Mina, midway through the bridge. The chief detective’s hyped smile slowly vanishes as soon as she gets a clear view of her ex-wife’s face.

A small smile is still on Mina’s lips while she sings the bridge to her- she’s staring at Jeongyeon but her eyes are now laced with deep sadness. The one of several Mina looks that Jeongyeon recognizes very well- because it’s that specific look whenever her ~~wife~~ ex-wife badly needs her warm embrace.

_And I, I don't wanna let you know_

_I, I drown in your memory_

_I, I don't wanna let this go_

_I, I.. I don't_

Mina somehow becomes fully aware that Jeongyeon is already looking at her so she immediately shifts her gaze towards her side of the window again. Mina then stops singing along anymore. 

The need to hug her ex-wife intensifies, and Jeongyeon just immediately shifts her eyes on the road again and focuses on driving so she can shake off that feeling.

Mina tries to steal quiet glances at Jeongyeon while the chief detective is driving and the second track continues to play.

As the song is nearing to its end, they finally reached the front of Mina’s building, and Jeongyeon stops the car while the last chorus plays in the background.

_If I could fall into the sky_

_Do you think time would pass me by?_

_Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles_

****

**_If I could just see you.._ **

Jeongyeon tightens her hold on the steering wheel, holds her breath, and looks at Mina’s side profile.

**_If I could just hold you.._ **

Mina clenches her fist and pulls the hem of her sweater tightly, while she tries to sneak another glance at Jeongyeon again..

...only to be met by her ex-wife’s eyes who’s now looking intensely at her.

**_Tonight~_ **

And they continue to stare at each other longingly while the instrumental piano riff plays and fades away slowly, as the second track finally comes to its end.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 02: A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton
> 
> Next Chapter: The investigation deepens as our Elite Squad discovers more clues, and.. Detective Yoo Jeongyeon pa-fall. 
> 
> P.S. So what do you think about their new group chat name? lol  
>    
> Stream "I Can't Stop Me English version" if you haven't yet :)
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	3. Track 03: More Than Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Detective Yoo and Detective Myoui went to an investigation ~~feels~~ field trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. Advance Happy JeongMi day! :)

*****

It’s officially the first week of winter, it hasn’t started snowing yet in Seoul but the temperature is already almost unbearable for Mina’s chill-sensitive skin. 

The senior detective is wrapped in her usual pair of wool scarf and elegant gray long winter coat. She’s about to cross the street to their station when it begins to rain- a heavy downpour at once, without even the slightest warning of a drizzle. So Mina is left with no choice but to brave and run through the heavy winter rain, using her scarf as the only useless shield. 

She reaches their station looking like a drenched puppy, feeling miserable and ultimately freezing. She hangs her wet coat and scarf by their entrance door to avoid spreading water drips across their station floor. 

Mina’s mood is already ruined by the rain and she unknowingly glares at the first person that speaks to her upon entering their station-

“We’re going to Daegu today-” Jeongyeon’s commanding tone immediately softens with worry after seeing her ex-wife’s state, “What happened to you?”

Mina sighs, her patience is already running thin so early in the morning so she answers sarcastically, “I was in a hurry so I showered with my coat on already. Saves you time to prepare yourself for work. It’s effective, you should try it.” 

Mina ignores the fuzzy feeling in her stomach after seeing her ex-wife’s worried look on her, and she hurriedly walks straight to their locker room to get some change of clothes.

Jeongyeon quietly observes her ex-wife. She recognizes this _grumpy Mina mood_ almost instantly, and she can’t believe that instead of being mad- she actually internally smiles. It’s been a while since she has last seen this, and she’s laughing at herself after realizing that even this- this Mina in front of her, she have missed this version of Mina very much.

She smiles and shakes her head in disbelief while she follows her ex-wife towards their locker room.

“You gotta be kidding me.” 

Mina exhales frustratingly while looking inside her locker focusing on the only item of clothing hanging in there – a single piece of thin sweater. Certainly not the change of clothes she needs on this cold winter morning.

She’s in the middle of letting out three consecutive loud sighs when someone gently knocks on her metal locker door. Mina slightly closes her locker to see who it is.

“Here.” Jeongyeon lifts her hand that is holding a thick black fleece jacket. 

“It’s not as expensive as your winter coat but it will keep you warm.”

When Mina continues to just stare at her, the chief detective reaches out for her ex-wife’s hand to drop the jacket but she stops midway after realizing what she’s about to do. She immediately retracts her raised hand and holds her jacket again, pushing it towards Mina a bit harder.

“Come on now Myoui, we don’t have much time. Daegu is way colder than Seoul.”

Mina quietly accepts the jacket, and Jeongyeon immediately walks out of the locker room as if she has just done something embarrassing. 

Mina then finally lets out the fond smile she’s been holding back earlier ever since she notices that specific concerned look on her ex-wife’s face.

*****

“Did you choose to be my investigation partner today?”

Mina asks Jeongyeon inside the car five minutes after their drive to Daegu. The younger detective’s face is serious but there’s a hint of teasing in her tone.

Jeongyeon huffs, “huh. You wish. It was a draw lots.”

“Draw lots? How childish.” Mina teases more, knowing full well whose idea it is.

“It’s fair.” Jeongyeon pouts, then she scoffs loudly when she thinks of a reply and adds in a feigned annoyance, “Well it’s supposed to be. But I ended up drawing your name so I guess draw lots can be unfair too. Or maybe I’m just really unlucky today to have you as your partner.”

“Well the feeling is mutual.” Mina immediately comments back.

Jeongyeon stops the car at red light and looks at her ex-wife’s way,

“Is that why you glare at me first thing in the morning at the mere sight of my face?”

Mina then immediately feels guilty after remembering her reaction earlier. She knows it’s unfair that she snaps back at her ex-wife for no reason at all just because the rain ruined her mood. 

So instead of replying with another snark, she looks at Jeongyeon apologetically and replies with a bit of shyness in her tone,

“Sorry.. I was just in a bad mood earlier. My coat got drenched and it’s winter and I was freezing, and..”

“I know.” Jeongyeon stops her rambling. Despite trying her best not to, her lips is already forming a tender smile when she replies to her ex-wife with a tone equally quiet and shy,

“I know that you get cold easily. That’s why I offered you that jacket.”

Mina subtly moves her own arms that are initially lying on her lap. She encloses her arms around her lower stomach while she grips the thick cloth of Jeongyeon’s jacket, “Thank you..” she grips the jacket even more, “..It feels warm.”

Jeongyeon just fondly smiles back as a response and proceeds on her driving again. 

When Mina notices that her ex-wife is now focused on the road, she turns on her side of the window, raises her right hand sneakily, and subtly sniffs her _sweater paw_ of Jeongyeon’s jacket- the ever so familiar scent brings an equal mix of longing and comfort in Mina’s heart.

“Just so you know- I haven’t washed that jacket in two weeks.”

Jeongyeon cheekily comments when she notices what Mina is doing.

A deep red blush instantly covers the entirety of Mina’s face and she looks at her side of the window to hide it, “What are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you sniffing my jacket just now?” Jeongyeon grins while she takes a quick peek at her guilty ex-wife in the rearview mirror.

Mina clears her throat when she tries her best to sound as annoyed as possible,

“Well you caught me. I was just checking if you washed it and I think you’re lying. It smells like it hasn’t been washed for months! How dare you made me wear it today?!”

Jeongyeon now couldn’t hide her amused smile at Mina’s defensive reply so she rides it back instead,

“Damn. You really are a great detective, Myoui. I actually haven’t washed it in 6 months.”

The traffic light turns to red again so Jeongyeon now faces Mina and she smirks when she adds,

“I let you wear it today so you can wash it on my behalf when you return it back to me.”

Mina’s blushing face has already subsided so she turns to face her ex-wife again while she instantly shifts to her irritated face, 

“I swear to god if I get skin infection because of this dirty jacket.”

Mina’s annoyed face only fuels Jeongyeon more. So the chief detective leans a bit closer to her ex-wife, raises one of her eyebrows, and grins smugly when she replies back in a teasing tone,

“Does it still feel warm?”

Mina blushes again and this time it’s already too late for her to hide it because Jeongyeon has already seen it, 

“Y- You scammer!”

Jeongyeon lets her loud laughter be heard inside the car, and perhaps Mina blushes even harder at that. 

But the younger detective didn’t hide her face anymore because she also wants to savor the moment of witnessing her ex-wife’s extremely elated face. It’s been a while, and Mina misses these kinds of moments. Mina misses this version of happy Jeongyeon.

It has been a little over two weeks since their squad has started investigating the case. Mina feels relieved that the awkward tension between them has somehow subsided - especially when she and Jeongyeon are both assigned to be partner in trailing their case leads.

Well maybe it hasn’t really subsided, for it’s always been there- whenever there’s a long pause between them. Whenever they passed by a special coffee shop that they used to frequent on the way to their investigation lead. Whenever a specific song in their playlist reminded them of a special intimate moment that they used to share.

The awkwardness and tension has always been there, they have just somehow managed to dance around with it by annoying each other to no ends. Both of them trying their best to think of any snarky remark, no matter how foolish sometimes, just so there wouldn’t be any long heavy silence again between them.

Because within all the quietness- that’s when their yearning hearts start to beat the loudest. 

*****

They arrived at the Daegu electrical power plant after around 4 hours. The site is situated on the rural end of the province and they are immediately greeted by the Site Operations Engineer.

When Jeongyeon notices the engineer keying the code on the main gate lock, the chief detective immediately comments,

“The police found the victim’s fingerprints on that digital keycode. It seems like he knows the passcode so there’s no sign of forced entry. But no one among the site staff knows him, is that right Engineer?”

“Yes we don’t know him, he’s not an employee here. He’s not even from Daegu. So we’re not sure how did he manage to get the passcode to our site.”

“Do you change your passcode on a regular basis?” It’s Mina who asks the Engineer this time.

“Yes, we change it every quarter. And when the crime happened, we just changed our gate’s passcode two weeks before that.”

“Who thinks of the new passcode? Or is it auto generated? Do you store your passcode somewhere, write it down or upload it in the network?” Mina continues interviewing the Engineer while Jeongyeon goes near one of the site’s CCTVs and inspects it from afar.

“The new passcode is system generated, and then I manually set it up in all our gates. We only have a local server here where we control the entire site’s operation including the CCTVs and the door locks.”

“That means you have a local backup facility, right? Can I check it, Sir?” Mina politely requests for access.

Jeongyeon then walks beside them wearing her special transition glasses when she points out to the CCTV above them and speaks to the Engineer. 

“Can I inspect that one too? I just need to check for something.”

“Sure, Detectives. Anything to help you with the case.” The Engineer just nods and leads them towards their local backup site.

*****

That same day in the main city, Sana is strolling around the side street of Seoul CBD. The detective is dressed in her casual large white jacket and black shorts- trying her best to style like a broke college student during winter, while secretly trailing a man in a delivery service uniform. 

The man was the supposed driver of the truck which was last seen delivering a parcel in front of the Mayor’s house- when the actual kidnapping happened. It was seen in the deleted clip which Mina has recovered, and is eventually assigned for Dahyun and Sana to investigate.

“Orchid, he’s going in now. Be ready.” Sana whispers when the man enters a coffee shop near the intersection.

After a minute, Sana follows him inside and she gives a subtle nod to Dahyun, who’s already sitting in the far end corner of the coffee shop. 

The rookie detective is wearing her thick eyeglasses, her serious face intently focus on the laptop, with notes and books scattered in her table- also looking like a broke college student cramming her thesis inside a small café.

Sana then sits two tables away from the man and quietly eyes Dahyun when he pulls out his phone. After a few minutes, Dahyun speaks in her in-ear,

“He’s not connecting to the wi-fi.” Dahyun sounds impatient when the man they’re trailing is not connecting to the coffee shop’s wi-fi, which the rookie detective is currently hacking.

Sana replies calmly, “Ok, plan B.”

Dahyun then sends a phishing text to the man’s phone disguising as a special access to nude pictures. The man looked at the text for almost a minute, seriously contemplating if he should click it but eventually decided to just delete the message. Dahyun glares at the man from across her seat.

Sana rolls her eyes after seeing the rookie detective’s reaction, “Fine. Plan C then.” 

After how many days that they’ve been following the guy, Sana already knows what to do. She’s a skilled profiler after all.

She then takes a small perfume from her blue sling bag and sprays some on her jacket. Then she walks to the man’s table and immediately shifts into her _shy-flirty-college-student_ mode when she slides and sits down beside the man.

“Oppaa...” Sana speaks in her high feminine voice, “I saw you sitting alone here so maybe you could help me?” She sends the man her most convincing puppy eyes.

The man looks at her, and a knowing grin immediately appears on his brusque face after scanning Sana from head to toe-

“What is it? Miss?” The man moves closer to the detective while he puts his phone down on the table.

“Lily. You can call me Lily.” Sana subtly eyes the phone while she moves to him closer and holds the man’s arm.

The man perversely smiles at Sana’s touch and he immediately squeezes the detective’s exposed thigh under the table. Sana subtly grits her teeth and restrained herself from punching the man’s face right there and then. 

Instead, she pulls the man closer to her, almost in the act of hugging him when she whispers closely to the man’s ears,

“I’m running out of money for this semester’s tuition. You look like someone who can lend me some. In exchange, I can grant your wish. Just name it, Oppaa.. I can do anything. I just really need to finish all of my units this semester.” 

Sana whispers in her sweet voice, but her face is extremely disgusted, while she simultaneously unlocks the man’s phone and connects it to the cafe’s wi-fi. She then quietly puts the phone back in its previous place while Dahyun is already scanning the contents of it from the other end of the shop.

“How much do you want? And can you really grant my wish?” The man hugs Sana closer but the detective subtly pulls away. 

“Yes, Oppa.” Sana then notices the man’s cap in the table. Then the detective’s phone rings after a second and Sana quickly answers it.

“I got everything, Lily. Get out of there now.”

“Yes, Miss Kim. I’m sorry I forgot we have lab class today. Yes I will run now.” 

Sana looks back at the man trying to sound guilty, “I’m sorry Oppa that was my professor. But-” She gets a piece of paper, writes a number on it and gives it to the man,

“Call me in this number. Just say you need to talk to Lily. I really need your help, Oppa. ”

Sana winks at him before she hastily exits the coffee shop’s door, with the man’s cap already in her jacket’s inside pocket. The number that she gave the man is the contact of their local zoo with a famous gorilla named- _“Lily”_.

She then dials in Dahyun’s number and speaks in her whiny tone, 

“You owe me a drink, Kim. God, that was disgusting.”

*****

Back in Daegu, Mina has just finished scanning all of the site’s local backup data when she looks at Jeongyeon with a satisfied smile.

“I found something. And I think I know what it is.”

The chief detective looks back at her with the same satisfied smile, while she raises her hand holding a very minute electronic chip that she found inside one of the site’s CCTVs.

“Me too. I think Ji will treat us big time when we get back to Seoul.”

“Right. Ji better treat us to a lobster restaurant.” Mina’s eyes immediately twinkle at the mere thought of the sumptuous seafood treat.

“Oh I’m feeling wagyu steak, hon.” Jeongyeon raises her eyebrow teasingly in response.

Mina immediately stiffens after hearing it, and she stares back at Jeongyeon feeling stunned. 

But the chief detective just looks down on her opened circuit board again without even realizing what she just said to her ex-wife.

*****

The two detectives drove back to Seoul a few minutes after sunset. But it is not only one hour since their drive when Jeongyeon’s car started acting up, then went to a complete full stop in the middle of a deserted road with a forest on one side, and a cliff on the other.

It is already dark outside with only their car’s head and tail lights as the only remaining light source. Unsurprisingly no other cars are passing by because the power plant is located in the far end of the province, and no one really frequents that area.

Mina looks at Jeongyeon worriedly and the chief detective is quick to reassure her,

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix it.”

The younger detective’s face immediately relaxes at that. Of course, if there’s someone who can fix any device's problems, be it mechanical or electrical- it’s her ex-wife.

So Mina just patiently waits while Jeongyeon gets her flashlight and walks out of the car to check the engine. After ten minutes, Jeongyeon goes inside the car again and looks at Mina with a sheepish smile- “I can’t fix it.”

Mina’s eyes widened anxiously, “What do you mean you can’t fix it?”

“There’s a leakage in the fuel line. The cold weather created some cracks because the temperature here in Daegu is way lower. I should have let it replaced earlier in preparation for winter, sorry.”

The younger detective then notices the redness in Jeongyeon’s nose while her ex-wife explains the situation to her. It’s adorable but she knows that Jeongyeon is probably freezing right now after staying outside for longer minutes.

“I tried calling the nearest mechanic shop but the owner said they can only send someone first thing in the morning tomorrow.” The chief detective explains further.

“So what do we do now?” Mina quietly asks her ex-wife while she puts a heat pack on Jeongyeon’s cheek.

Jeongyeon is taken aback by Mina’s gesture, and when she tries to hold the heat pack too, her ex-wife immediately retracted her hand at the slightest brush of their skin.

Mina awkwardly shifts her gaze away from Jeongyeon, and the chief detective just smiles knowingly at her.

“Well I guess we just have to stay the night here inside the car.”

Jeongyeon answers quietly after a few seconds.

“I remember seeing a house on the way earlier. I think it should be around 100 metres from here.”

“That’s even better.” Jeongyeon perks up after hearing it. “I don’t think the car’s battery will last overnight. And we’ll freeze to death if the heater stops.” 

The chief detective then puts the heat pack back on Mina’s cheek after noticing that her ex-wife is slightly shivering, “You’ll freeze to death.”

Mina looks at her ex-wife surprised while Jeongyeon continues to explain,

“Why did you even give it to me? You’re the one who gets cold easily. I don’t need this.”

“It’s ok. I have another heat pack in my ba-” 

“No, you don’t.” Jeongyeon quickly stops her rambling because she’s caught on Mina’s excuse. 

She knows that it’s the only heat pack that her ex-wife has managed to bring for their day trip. She noticed that it’s the only one Mina has been gripping hard since early morning. In fact, the heat pack already feels a bit lukewarm on her cheek. 

Jeongyeon knows that Mina needs every degree of heat she can hold onto during cold winter days, but her ex-wife still gave her the only heat pack that she has in her hand. Just the thought of it already warms Jeongyeon’s heart, and it made her internally smile. 

Jeongyeon then moves her head motioning for Mina to take the heat pack which the chief detective is still holding in place on top of her ex-wife’s cheek.

Mina raises her hand slowly and is about to hold the heat pack, “You can let it go now, I’ll hold it now..”

“Hold it first. If I let go now, it will drop on the floor.”

Mina nervously blinks at her ex-wife before she fully holds on the heat pack on top of Jeongyeon’s hand.

“Let it go now.” Mina tries to demand firmly in the middle of her racing heart when Jeongyeon still didn’t retract her hand.

The chief detective intensely stares at her ex-wife first, before she finally slides down her hand, albeit in a rather slower motion so their fingers brushed longer- much to Mina’s internal suffering.

Jeongyeon then hears the sharp intake of breath that Mina made, and the chief detective subtly smirks when she turns her body in front of the road again.

Afterwards Mina immediately demanded for them to walk to the house and see if the owner will allow them to stay for the night. 

*****

The old local owner of the house by the roadside was kind enough to let the two detectives in, and have them stay overnight.

Mina is still wearing Jeongyeon’s jacket and she’s already settled in one of the small rooms beside a portable heater. Her laptop is open and she’s busy analyzing all the evidences that they have gathered today when she hears soft knocks on the door.

“Myoui, can you come outside for a minute?” Jeongyeon’s face comes into clear view when the room door gets opened, her tone laced with excitement.

She narrows her eyes but then she stands up nonetheless and follows her ex-wife quietly.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

Mina hears Jeongyeon softly asks her when she steps outside on the house’s covered porch and finally notices the small snowflakes gently falling down from the illuminated winter sky. The bright moonlight casting a tiny sparkle into each of the falling snow, and it makes Mina’s mouth gape in awe.

Jeongyeon then taps the wooden floor seat beside her and Mina immediately follows, but she still maintains a half a meter distance between them. 

The younger detective continues to quietly observe the falling snow with wonder, and the chief detective just stares silently at her.

“Do you remember the first time we watched the first snow together?”

Jeongyeon asks after a few minutes of silence between them.

“Yes.” Mina answers meekly. 

Of course she remembers. She will never forget. 

It was the first time Jeongyeon holds her hand under the dim light of the chief detective’s car, while they watched the falling snowflakes together from inside, and a steaming cup of convenience store coffee in each of their other hand.

It wasn’t the most romantic set up, but Mina treasures that special moment deeply within her heart.

“Here.” Jeongyeon offers something for her ex-wife, and Mina’s heart begins to beat faster when she looks down at the steaming mug of coffee in the chief detective’s hand.

“I figure you’ll get colder when we sit here outside so.. coffee?”

She quickly takes the coffee mug away from Jeongyeon and mutters a shy, “Thank you.”

Jeongyeon then pulls out her phone and plays the third track in their playlist. It’s exactly the song that was playing when that special moment happened in their life.

“That song..” Mina can only snicker on how her ex-wife is being obvious right now. 

Jeongyeon looks at her with a subtle grin on her face while she replies with a teasing tone,

“Why what’s with that song?”

Mina stares at her and holds Jeongyeon’s gaze for a few seconds, “Nothing, it’s just the third track that’s all.”

Jeongyeon just smiles back and the two continue to quietly observe the beautiful falling snowflakes in front of them- both of their hands holding tightly into the steaming coffee mug on top of their lap, while the acoustic rendition of the third track continues to play in the background.

“Myoui..” Jeongyeon quietly speaks after the second chorus while she raises her other hand from her coffee mug and puts it down on the wooden floor, beside Mina.

Mina turns to look at Jeongyeon, “Yes, Yoo?”

“Are you still cold?”

Mina knows that question- and the event that will follow if she answers truthfully. 

Her ex-wife is now looking at her with hopeful eyes and the loud frantic beating inside her chest is too much for Mina to bear now. Jeongyeon is sincerely smiling at her, and Mina just wants to.. wants to give in.

She really does.

She tightens her grip on her coffee mug when she answers to Jeongyeon with the quietest tone, as if she doesn’t want her ex-wife to hear it-

“I’m not. The coffee makes me warm now. Thank you.”

Jeongyeon weakly smiles at her, and the twinkle in her eyes fades slowly. “That’s good.” She puts her hand back on her coffee mug and looks down on the half-empty drink, “I’m glad that you’re warm now.”

Mina painfully looks at her ex-wife’s side profile while she grips the hold on her mug tighter.

 _I’m still cold._ _I wanna hold your hand too._

*****

Two days after their trip to Daegu, the Elite Squad had a meeting again with Jihyo to present their latest evidences and findings to the case. 

The Station Chief was elated on their progress that Jeongyeon was able to ~~trick~~ persuade her into treating them for some meal and drinks after their work.

So later that Saturday winter night, the Elite Squad enters Handong’s bar to grab some free drinks and dinner courtesy of Jihyo’s credit card in Jeongyeon’s pocket.

Mina is sitting beside Sana, and across them is Jeongyeon and Dahyun when they were having dinner. The younger detective is so engrossed in listening to Sana’s stories that she unknowingly puts the other half of her garlic bread, the one that she just divided equally, into Jeongyeon’s plate.

The chief detective is a bit surprised, but the gesture still warms Jeongyeon’s heart knowing that her ex-wife probably did it out of habit. 

But Mina seems to not have noticed this since she just continues to look and listen to Sana’s stories. So Jeongyeon clears her throat loudly to subtly calls out Mina’s attention to her side-

“Did you put poison on it?”

Mina looks at her ex-wife confused, “What?”

Jeongyeon points at the garlic bread using her fork, “You put this on my plate. Was it poisoned?”

Mina quickly blushes after realizing what she just did. Jeongyeon internally smiles after noticing the slight panic in her ex-wife’s state- the chief detective still finds it adorable. But Jeongyeon didn’t show her smile and just proceeds with her dramatic acting-

“If I die today, it’s on Myoui-“

Mina quickly forks the bread back and transfers it to her own plate, “There. It’s not on your plate anymore, happy now?”

Jeongyeon pouts. _It’s her bread!_ Mina gave it to her. So she quickly forks the bread again and instantly bites on it.

Mina looks dumbfounded and just comments sarcastically, “I poisoned that, remember?”

“I don’t care.” Jeongyeon munches on her bread in a hurry and takes big bites continuously, afraid that Mina might take it from her again, “It’s my bread now.”

Mina just snickers at her ex-wife and subtly pushes a glass of water towards her,

“Eat slowly, will you? The poison’s effect won’t disappear if you eat faster.”

This time, Jeongyeon didn’t hide her smile when she flashes a wide grin towards Mina in the middle of her chewing.

Mina internally thinks that her ex-wife is still as adorable as ever.

*****

After their dinner, Handong, the club owner, personally walks to the Squad’s designated table to welcome Mina back. After having her quick catch up with the younger detective, she turns to Jeongyeon and comments-

“It’s open mic tonight, Jeong. How about you perform today, huh? It’s been a while since we last heard you sing.”

Dahyun perks up after hearing it, “Detective Yoo can sing?”

“Oh you don’t know? Ever since Jeong here started singing in my bar that one special night, a lot of ladies have frequented this place thinking she’s a regular performer here.”

Handong then taps the chief detective’s shoulder, “But even though you’ve turned down a lot of proposals from them, I gotta thank you for being one of the reasons why so many girls have discovered this place.”

“No big deal.” Jeongyeon just scoffs proudly at her friend.

“So come on Jeong, sing for us tonight. We miss hearing your singing voice. Right, Mina?” Handong looks at Mina, and the younger detective just shifts her gaze away shyly. 

Jeongyeon notices that Mina is now mindlessly piercing her food from across the table, and is seemingly trying to avoid her stare. She then remembers the moment they had in Daegu two days ago, so the chief detective smiles when she looks up at Handong and finally replies,

“Alright. You still have my favorite Fender right?”

Jeongyeon walks towards the bar’s small stage in front and sits on the high stool in the middle - with an acoustic guitar on hand, and a soft yellowish spotlight bathing her face and entire body. 

“hrmm hrmmm mic test. Is this on now? Can you guys hear me?” 

The chief detective shyly speaks into the microphone.

_YESSS!! -_ a unanimous loud answer from the audience is heard across the bar. Some encouraging whistles from other ladies can also be heard right after.

“Great. Alright, so before I start singing, I just want to say something.” Jeongyeon pauses for a second and begins speaking again while looking to the audience in front of her.

“For the past years, I’ve been going home alone. I’ve been living alone-“

_I can live with you! –_ a girl in front of Jeongyeon immediately shouted, interrupting her speech and Jeongyeon just cheekily replies to her-

“Thank you. I’ll think about it.” 

Mina glares at the lady who shouted and quickly shifts her focus back on Jeongyeon when her ex-wife starts speaking again.

“So what I’m saying is, I’ve been going home alone for the past three years. But it is not until lately that I realized that I was really not.. - going _home_. I realized that all these years, I’ve just been really wandering outside aimlessly for so long. Because it is not only until few weeks ago when I found my real _home_ again.” 

Jeongyeon then shifts her gaze to directly look at Mina’s way and proceeds speaking again,

“Sometimes home can be a memory- a memory of someone’s touch, someone’s kiss, someone’s embrace... someone’s gaze. Sometimes home can be a person..” Jeongyeon smiles weakly at her ex-wife, “And all you want to do is to just knock on her door again and check if you’re still welcome inside.” 

Jeongyeon then looks at the audience again while she holds her guitar closer and prepares to sing,

“To my _home_ , wherever you are- this song is for you.”

Mina’s heart immediately sinks deeply within her chest when Jeongyeon starts plucking the first chords of their playlist’s third track. That song is very special to them and she knows deep within her heart the real reason why Jeongyeon chose that track tonight.

Everybody in the bar gets quiet and the only thing that can be heard is the melancholic strumming of Jeongyeon’s guitar, while the chief detective skillfully plucks its chords during the song’s introduction.

When the first verse begins, Jeongyeon slowly looks up from her guitar and turns to look at Mina’s way while she sings the first lines-

_Saying ‘I love you’_

_Is not the words I want to hear from you_

_It's not that I want you_

_not to say, but if you only knew-_

_How easy_

_It would be to show me how you feel_

_More than words_

_Is all you have to do to make it real_

_Then you wouldn't have to say_

_That you love me_

_'Cause I'd already know_

Jeongyeon is looking at her with a mix of fondness and longing- Mina knows. Because she might probably be giving the same expression and stare to her ex-wife too from across the other end of the bar.

And while Jeongyeon continues to strum the guitar and delivers her lovely rendition of the song, she never stray her gaze away from her ex-wife. And Mina suddenly feels like they are the only persons in the room now, and the only sounds that she can hear are Jeongyeon’s lovely voice, the strumming of her guitar, and the loud beating of her own heart that’s been magnified to full extent. 

And the only thing that matters to Mina during that moment- is Jeongyeon. Only Jeongyeon.

When the song goes into that momentous second verse, the chief detective’s intense stare at her softens- almost in the verge of pleading, while Jeongyeon continues to sing the lyrics to her.

_Now that I've tried to_

_Talk to you and make you understand_

_All you have to do is_

_close your eyes_

_And just reach out your hands_

_And touch me.._

_Hold me close_

_don't_

_ever_

_let me go~_

_More than words_

_Is all I ever needed you to show_

_Then you wouldn't have to say_

_That you love me_

_'Cause I'd already know~_

After Jeongyeon has strummed the last chord and sang the last line, she didn’t stand up from her seat immediately. 

For a couple more seconds, Jeongyeon just continues to look at her ex-wife with the softest stare, her lips shyly curve up in a very specific way which is both achingly familiar and devastatingly special for Mina – because it’s her most favorite Jeongyeon smile.

It’s that specific lopsided smile that Jeongyeon used to give her whenever she’s waiting for Mina’s reaction on her surprise anniversary gifts. It’s that ever charming lopsided smile that Mina used to witness on random mornings - whenever Jeongyeon has guided her in front of their dining table that’s beautifully plated with home cooked eggs benedict, bacons, and two cups of black coffee.

It’s her most favorite Jeongyeon smile- a very special smile that is downright adorable and endearing, yet also equally shy and vulnerable. A smile that always appears on her ex-wife’s lips whenever Jeongyeon is giving a piece of her heart to Mina.

It’s her most favorite Jeongyeon smile and Mina is seeing it again adorning her ex-wife’s lips, being graciously offered to her from a distance- for the first time in three years.

Mina might have let herself be immersed under the spell of Jeongyeon’s smile and stare for quite some time because when she looks back at their table again- Sana is now sitting across her and is cheerfully talking to Dahyun with both of their faces suspiciously close against each other. 

When Mina shifts her gaze away to the stage again, her ex-wife is now walking back towards their table with only the space beside her as the remaining empty seat. Her heart begins to race almost instantly and she doesn’t know why- or maybe Mina does, she just doesn’t want to admit it yet.

Mina is trying her best to focus on her half-eaten dinner meal when she feels that Jeongyeon is already quietly taking the empty seat beside her. She is now aware of the close distance between them and she subtly observes her ex-wife in the guise of mixing her bowl of mac and cheese.

Jeongyeon is now awfully quiet while she continues her cycle of filling up her soju glass and downing it in one shot. Few minutes have passed with them just quietly sitting beside each other when Mina finally decided to break the ice. She looks at her ex-wife’s side profile and speaks quietly, just audible enough to be heard amidst the live jazzy saxophone music that is now playing from the stage-

“It was a good performance.”

Jeongyeon stops raising her soju glass midway and slowly turns to face Mina- her eyes are now tipsy and her cheeks are adorably tinted with pink flush. “Thank you.” The chief detective mutters quietly as a response to her ex-wife’s praise. A small smile appears on her lips while she fondly holds Mina’s gaze for a few more seconds.

_It’s that lopsided smile again._ Mina’s heart races almost immediately when she sees it- now even more painstakingly up close, and Jeongyeon just shifts her focus back to continue drinking again. 

Mina opens her mouth slightly, but the questions she badly wants to ask didn’t come out. She sighs and then looks down on her now cold mac and cheese, before Dahyun taps her left hand from across the table and asks her about something.

Jeongyeon has been quietly eyeing Mina’s free left hand that’s just idly lying on top of their table. It’s been minutes since she has sat beside her ex-wife and Jeongyeon notices that Mina is just using her right hand, the hand that’s away from Jeongyeon’s side, whenever she’s mindlessly mixing her food or just grabbing a glass of water to drink. Mina’s left hand just stays there on the table the entire time- unmoving, seemingly waiting for something to hold onto.

Jeongyeon smiles after saying her _thanks_ to her ex-wife and proceeds to quietly down her drink again. But when she puts her empty shot glass back on the table, the chief detective scoots closer to her ex-wife and lays her right hand on the table too, just a few inches away from Mina’s free hand. The subtle twitch in the younger detective’s fingers didn’t escape Jeongyeon’s observant eyes.

From the outside Mina looks like she’s listening intently to Dahyun’s stories, but in reality she doesn’t understand a single thing that the rookie detective is saying. She’s painfully aware now how close her ex-wife is to her, and their covered elbows brushed slightly when Jeongyeon moves to lay her other hand on the table too.

Suddenly it feels like there’s an invisible magnetic force in the little space between their free hands and Mina is tempted to just close the distance and succumb to that force. But she’s never the type to initiate the first step- it’s always been Jeongyeon who does that. Her heart continues to beat faster in anticipation when Jeongyeon’s hand slides closer in her peripheral line of vision, and Mina just continues to mindlessly nod at whatever it is that Dahyun is asking her.

When Mina noticed where Sana is looking at, she instantly felt defensive and quickly retracts her hand from the table and hides it on her lap. She shifts her focus again on her now mushy mac and cheese, feeling utterly disappointed because the touch that she longs for never came.

But the disappointment only lasted for two seconds because in the middle of her piercing a cheesy pasta- Mina suddenly feels the warmth of someone’s soft hand gently enveloping her cold palm, and her heart stops, melts, and flutters all at once at the very sensation of that familiar and comforting touch.

Mina gasps internally. It’s been so long since someone has held her hand this tight. This familiar warmth is one of the basic things she misses specially during cold lonely winter nights.

She slowly turns to face Jeongyeon, her ex-wife is still pouring a soju bottle to her glass when she speaks quietly, seemingly aware that Mina is now looking at her, “Your hand is cold..” Jeongyeon then squeezes her hand much tighter before she finally turns to look at Mina, “I’ll just keep it warm. Is that ok?”

Mina just nods. Jeongyeon then intertwines their fingers together, “Are you still cold?”

Mina just nods again, a bit shyly this time. Jeongyeon smiles lopsidedly and slightly pulls her ex-wife’s hand closer to her, tugging Mina along. 

Mina subtly scoots closer to Jeongyeon. Their intertwined hands are now on top of the chief detective’s lap under the table when Jeongyeon leans closer to Mina and whispers, “Tell me when you’re not cold anymore. I’ll hold you until then.” 

Mina nods quietly again. Jeongyeon’s warm breath is reeking of alcohol but Mina doesn’t mind. Not when her heart is bursting so loudly inside her chest at the mere touch of their skin. She badly wants to pull Jeongyeon’s entire arm and fully enclose her own arm around it, while she leans her head on Jeongyeon’s shoulder. 

But she supposes having this is enough for now. 

Mina never told Jeongyeon the moment she feels warm enough already. Jeongyeon doesn’t really seem to mind while she continues to hold and squeeze her ex-wife’s hand tightly, all throughout their remaining stay at the bar. 

*****

Two hours later and one more soju bottle for Jeongyeon, Mina now finds herself guiding her drunken ex-wife inside ~~their~~ the chief’s detective’s home. 

It’s fortunate for her that she knows every nook of this house so Mina immediately finds the door hallway’s light switch, while she assists her barely awake ex-wife inside with much difficulty. 

While she is guiding Jeongyeon to the master’s bedroom, Mina stops on her tracks as soon as she sees the huge framed picture that’s sturdily hanging on the living room wall.

_It’s still there.. Has it always been there all this time?_

Mina thinks to herself while she continues to stare at their wedding picture with surprised eyes and aching heart.

“You look pretty in there. We look happy in there.” 

Jeongyeon, whose one arm is secured tightly around Mina’s shoulders, speaks suddenly in a slurred tone. 

Mina turns to look at her ex-wife - Jeongyeon’s state is still very much drunk, her eyes are still red and drowsy and she’s smiling dopily at Mina while she continues to slur her words, 

“I like seeing your smile, Mina. I miss seeing your smile.” 

The gaping hole in Mina’s heart continues to grow while she stares at her ex-wife’s drunken state. Jeongyeon sends her one last goofy grin before the chief detective’s head droops down again. Mina then tightens her hold on her ex-wife’s waist while she carefully assists Jeongyeon inside the bedroom.

With years of experience and a very much needed level of self-control after, Mina has finally managed to have Jeongyeon changed into a fresh pair of comfortable warm pajamas.

Mina quietly tucks Jeongyeon in the bed, the chief detective is now sleeping peacefully. She carefully sits on the side of the bed and watches her sleeping ex-wife. 

When she’s sure that Jeongyeon is now in her deep sleep state, Mina reaches out for her ex-wife’s hand that’s protruding slightly from the comforter. She gently holds it with both of her hands but she doesn’t squeeze it, afraid that Jeongyeon might wake up if she does. Instead, Mina softly runs her thumb along the back of her ex-wife’s hand while she continues to look at Jeongyeon with loving eyes.

After a while, Mina smiles fondly at the sleeping chief detective before she finally places the softest of kisses on her ex-wife’s back hand. When she pulls away from the kiss, Mina carefully puts Jeongyeon’s hand back on top of the comforter before she quietly stands up from the bed, preparing to go home.

But when she turned around and is about to walk away, she suddenly hears Jeongyeon’s quiet voice, “Honey..”

Mina looks back at her sleeping ex-wife - Jeongyeon’s eyes are still closed but her brows are furrowed and her hand is now slightly raised. Mina knows that the chief detective is probably just dreaming. Her ex-wife is always like that, specially after a heavy night of drinking.

Jeongyeon moves her raised hand slightly, seemingly trying to grasp something out of the cold thin air, when the chief detective speaks quietly again, her tone a little pleading this time-

“Honey.. Hon-”

Mina immediately holds Jeongyeon’s raised hand, “I’m here.” Mina squeezes it gently. “Honey, I’m just here.”

Jeongyeon’s tensed face slightly eases up at Mina’s touch, and the chief detective’s breathing gets even again.

Mina smiles tenderly at her sleeping ex-wife, while Jeongyeon pulls their held hands closer to her own chest, making Mina crouched down a little bit towards the sleeping detective.

Looking down at her sleeping ex-wife now and feeling Jeongyeon’s tight grip on her hand, Mina allows some cracks to be formed on her guarded wall when she begins to carefully move and climbs on top of the bed.

She quietly lies beside Jeongyeon, near the edge of the bed, all while their hands are still held together. Mina carefully tucks herself inside the comforter too, and when Jeongyeon slightly moves closer to her, she immediately embraces her sleeping ex-wife while she mutters a quiet, “Five minutes. Just five minutes.”

Mina then closes her eyes and cuddles her ex-wife to another deep slumber. And while she hugs Jeongyeon closer to her, she revisits the memory of last night’s performance. Mina vividly relives every single second of it, all while she deeply cherishes the warmth of her ex-wife’s embrace beside her.

And when the memory of the performance finally ends, Mina carefully pulls her hand away from Jeongyeon’s hold- the chief detective remains still afterwards, as she has already succumbed to another phase of deep sleep state.

With her bag now in her hand, Mina finally prepares to leave the house while she quietly walks towards the door. But when she passes by the living room, she pauses on her steps and turns around slowly. She looks up to their wedding picture again- both of their radiant wide smiles in the photograph slightly brightening up the dimly lit room around her.

And perhaps it sends a small ray of light in Mina’s heart too when the younger detective fondly smiles back at the framed picture. The recent memory of Jeongyeon’s lovely singing voice begins to play again in her head.

She shifts her gaze towards the other side of the house, looks at their magnet-filled fridge and nods her head. Mina then changes her direction from the doorway to fully face that other side. 

She starts walking towards the kitchen with a newfound hope blooming within her broken heart.

*****

Jeongyeon wakes up early in the morning with a splitting headache and a very bad hangover. 

She couldn’t entirely remember what happened last night, specially on how she’s able to get home from the bar - _maybe Sana called Jihyo again to bring me here._

She holds her head and squints her eyes while she revisits her memories of last night- she remembers singing in the stage, she remembers sitting beside Mina, she remembers holding her ex-wife’s hands, she remembers.. and.. that’s it. That’s the last memory she had of last night- the feeling of Mina’s gentle touch before everything becomes a blur to her.

Jeongyeon then gives up trying to remember everything. It makes her happy somehow that her latest memory of last night is Mina holding her hand. She supposes everything that happens afterwards might probably be not that much important anyway.

When she forces herself to stand up from the bed and prepares herself for work, Jeongyeon finds a bottled water, medicine tablets, and a handwritten note on her bedside table.

She picks up the note and recognizes the pretty cursive handwriting right away. Jeongyeon smiles fondly at first, and then quickly panics after realizing something. She looks down on the note and finally reads it-

_“Drink this first, ok. There’s also your favorite hangover soup in the fridge. Just heat it up when you wake up. Make sure you eat that and rest up a bit before you go to work today._

_P.S. Eat slowly. You always burn your tongue when you love the food so much.”_

So it’s confirmed- Mina really was the one who brought her home last night. Jeongyeon then notices her pajamas and is about to panic even more when her painful headache attacks her again. The chief detective then sighs loudly and picks up the water and the medicine- she supposes she can deal with this embarrassment later. 

After finally drinking the medicine, Jeongyeon walks out to the kitchen with the note unknowingly still on her hand, feeling excited to eat her favorite version of hangover soup again.

At the first sip of the newly heated soup, Jeongyeon’s face effortlessly lights up in a bright smile. It’s still the same comforting soup that Mina always cooks for her whenever she experiences a heavy case of hangover like today. It instantly warms her entire body and calms her head.

Jeongyeon continues to eat her soup when she notices the handwritten note on the dining table beside her bowl. She picks up the note and reads it again. It warms her heart to think that Mina even took the extra effort of cooking even after bringing her home safely already. 

Then she remembers the events last night specially when her ex-wife allowed her to hold her hand. There’s a small hope that flickers in Jeongyeon’s heart but she doesn’t want to assume further. Moreover, she doesn’t want to be hurt further anymore. 

Jeongyeon smiles at the note for one last time and is about to put it back on the table again when she notices something else on it. She flips the note over and her heart immediately stills, her world pauses, everything else around her doesn’t matter anymore in that very moment. 

She quickly puts her spoon down and holds the note with both hands while she reads it over and over again-

_“I couldn’t play the guitar but.. this is my More Than Words. I hope you already know.”_

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 03: More Than Words by Extreme
> 
> Next Chapter: The entire Elite Squad goes on an undercover mission.. and when Daisy gets in danger, who do you think will save her?
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in this chapter. 
> 
> P.S. there are a lot of scenes in this chapter that are based from real-life JeongMi interactions. hehe 💚  
> 
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	4. Track 04: Ironic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Elite Squad led by Detective Yoo Jeongyeon goes on an undercover mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for the mistakes. Enjoy!

*****

“Ji, I have an emergency.” 

Mina speaks in urgent tone as soon as she steps inside the Station Chief’s office so early in the morning.

In fact, it’s really that early- it’s just 6 AM and Jihyo is still in the act of hanging her winter coat on the rack when Mina barged inside. 

“Mina, I haven’t had any sip of coffee yet today- just so you know.” 

The Station Chief is looking so serious and cranky when she warns her friend- for she needs her caffeine fix first before she starts her day and process any new kind of information.

“I know. Here.” Mina walks towards her friend and hands Jihyo a hot cup of freshly brewed flat white, with just one sugar.

Jihyo takes it immediately and indulges a sip- the first drip of caffeine rushing into her blood unfurrows her brows, and when she looks back at the distressed detective, her mood is already lighter.

“Ok what is it?”

Mina lets out a loud sigh,

“I might have indirectly told Jeong that I still love her.”

Jihyo looks at her friend deadpanned, then she takes another sip of her coffee and looks back at Mina with a raised eyebrow-

“We’ve been knew.”

“Knew what?” Mina stares at her friend confused, but the younger detective is still a bit fidgety.

Jihyo lazily leans her lower body against her wooden office table, “I actually thought you’ll last longer than that. I guess the years of being separated from each other made you more whipped for Jeong, huh?”

A deep red blush immediately crawls up from Mina’s neck to her face.

The Station Chief then sends a teasing smile to her friend before she takes another sip from her cup. 

“I knew that it’s just a matter of time between you two finally confess to each other again – be it accidentally or intentionally. You girls are such fools for each other.” 

“I did not come here so early in the morning just for you to tease me! Come on Ji, I’m in desperate need for a logical advice here.”

“Ok ok, geez Mina relax.” Jihyo drinks her coffee again, “So you indirectly confessed to your wife and.. and so what’s the problem?”

Mina opens her mouth. Jihyo waits until some coherent words come out from it, but when she hears none after a minute, the Station Chief speaks again-

“You want to give yourselves another chance, right?”

Mina’s mouth opens again, but this time only a loud anxious sigh comes out.

Jihyo’s teasing expression now shifts into a worried look when she puts down her coffee, walks to her bothered friend and holds Mina’s cold hands.

“What’s the problem Mina? Why are you still holding back?”

“I lied to her, Ji.”

Jihyo gently squeezes Mina’s hand, “You lied _for_ her. There’s a big difference.”

“But I still lied to her...” Mina’s tone is quieter, her voice cracks when she speaks and her hold on Jihyo’s hand tightens.

Jihyo knows that grip from her friend, so she tugs Mina closer and embraces her into a comforting hug.

“Are you still not ready to tell her the truth?”

Mina didn’t respond but she just hugs Jihyo back, so the Station Chief speaks again in her friendly concerned tone that’s only reserved for Jeongyeon and Mina.

“I think both of you have suffered long enough. It’s been three years, Mina..” Jihyo gently rubs Mina’s back, “Don’t you think Jeong already deserves the whole truth by this time?”

“What if she hates me afterwards?”

“She won’t.” Jihyo then pulls away from the hug and gently holds both of Mina’s cheeks. She looks at her friend tenderly and wipes the tears that are already trickling down across Mina’s face,

“Don’t think that way anymore, Mina. It’s different now. Do you really think that your wife can’t handle the truth even until now?”

Mina sniffles, “..ex-wife..”

Jihyo looks at Mina’s eyes directly, her gaze tender but full of determination and unwavering, 

“Wife. You girls are still married in my eyes. What happened then was really none of your choice, was it?”

Mina looks at her as if she’d like to cry even more, so Jihyo just nods at her friend, encouraging her to do so. The Station Chief then wipes the next batch of tears that rolls down across Mina’s cheeks.

A few minutes have passed before Mina finally calms down and Jihyo dries all of her tears away.

Mina sniffles a bit but a shy smile is now curving up her lips when she confesses to her friend,

“Jeong held my hand last night.”

Jihyo smiles warmly, “Did you hold it back?”

Mina shyly nods, and the twinkle in her eyes urges Jihyo to lightly tease her friend- “Whipped.”

A blushing Mina lightly taps Jihyo’s arm but her giddy smile is now becoming wider when she confesses further-

“She still has our wedding picture on our wall.”

“Jeong never removes it.” 

Jihyo gladly confirmed and Mina’s gummy smile finally reaches her eyes.

The Station Chief then takes Mina’s hands again and advices her friend,

“Usually I would tell you to be honest with your wife first. But I know what you’d gone through so-” Jihyo squeezes Mina’s hand,

“so just take it slow if you’re not fully ready yet. But don’t hold yourself back anymore. Jeong is suffering too you know.. as much as you are.” 

She smiles at her friend reassuringly while she warmly grips Mina’s hand, “Then tell her the truth whenever you are ready. I’m sure Jeong will understand now.”

“She always will, especially when it comes to you. Like I said, you girls are such fools for each other. But you are both _my_ fools. And I want my fools to be happily in love again. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Mina quietly nods at her. She breathes a sigh of relief as if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She squeezes Jihyo’s hand back when she replies,

“Thank you, Ji. I’ll treat you to lunch next time.”

“You better be. You still hasn’t paid me enough as your secret keeper for years.”

Jihyo jokes and Mina finally laughs at her while she slaps the Station Chief’s arm rather strongly. It kinda hurts but Jihyo doesn’t mind since Mina’s mood seems a lot lighter now.

The two friends then sit at the couch, started catching up that morning, and talk about just any random things inside Jihyo’s office.

When the clock ticks at 7:30 AM, Jihyo’s door suddenly barges open again and an anxious Jeongyeon comes in plain sight with a cup of steaming flat white in her hand.

“Ji!! I have an emergen- ”

Jeongyeon pauses when she sees Mina inside the office, she quickly hides her other hand in her back- the hand that’s holding her ex-wife’s note.

Jihyo snickers, “I think I know what your emergency is.” She points at the coffee in Jeongyeon’s hand. “Is that for me?”

“I-.. Yes.” Jeongyeon can’t seem to hold Mina’s gaze on her, she’s still standing by the door seemingly unable to move after seeing her ex-wife inside. 

She just recovered from her hangover and she’s still processing the note that Mina wrote to her. 

Mina quietly stands up from her seat and bids her goodbye to the Station Chief. She carefully walks near the door and stops just a few steps away from Jeongyeon.

_Take it slow. Don’t hold yourself back anymore –_

Jihyo’s words echo inside Mina’s head when she looks back at Jeongyeon with the fondest stare.

She takes another step closer, “Good morning.” Mina smiles warmly at her ex-wife, “Are you feeling better now?”

Jeongyeon nervously clutches the note in her hidden hand, “Good morning..” 

The hammering in her chest is getting louder when Mina takes another step closer.

“Can I..” Mina shyly points at the door beside Jeongyeon. “.. exit the room now?” 

“Oh sorry..” Jeongyeon quietly steps away from the door allowing Mina to finally leave the room. But she immediately speaks again before Mina can fully step out of her view.

“Myoui!”

“Yes, Yoo?” Mina quickly turns around, her voice too expectant for her own good.

“T- Thank you for the soup.” Jeongyeon stutters and she internally curses herself because why is she even stuttering in the first place?

“You’re welcome.”

“I finished it all.” A shy smile appears in the chief detective lips. “I feel better now.”

Mina’s smile is equally shy, and her eyes are now crinkled in the most endearing way that Jeongyeon adores very much.

“That’s good to know.” She quietly replies, before she finally exits the room leaving the chief detective feeling some sort of palpitations inside her chest so early in the morning.

“You two are acting like high school kids meeting their crush in the hallway.”

Jihyo is now looking at her friend amused after witnessing the awkward scene that just unfolded in front of her very eyes. 

She walks towards her friend and snatches the coffee from Jeongyeon’s hand. When she takes a sip and notices Jeongyeon’s still giddy state, she teases her friend with a knowing smirk,

“You have the same foolish expression when you barged into my room many years ago just to brag that you and Mina finally held hands.”

That seems to shake off Jeongyeon from her daze and she scoffs at Jihyo when she finally replies,

“That coffee is four dollars and fifty cents!”

***** 

At 9AM, the Elite Squad has a scheduled briefing with Jihyo in one of their investigation rooms. 

When Jeongyeon enters the room, she sees that Mina is already sitting inside so she stealthily walks towards the empty chair beside her ex-wife. 

The chief detective awkwardly moves her chair closer but Mina still didn’t look up from her laptop.

_If you really want for Mina to explicitly say what that note means, then just go ask her._

_\- What if she denies it?_

_She literally wrote it. Why would she deny it?_

_\- I don’t know.. because I was drunk?_

_Jeong, just ask her._

_\- It’s not that easy.._

_It’s either you ask her or you’ll eternally wonder for years._

_\- But..._

_Just ask her or I’ll put a 50% interest on your Ducati debt!_

Jeongyeon recalls her talk with Jihyo earlier while she looks at her ex-wife’s side profile and scrambles her mind for a proper conversation starter. She’s still debating whether it’s good to directly ask Mina about the note already, or she should start asking about the freezing weather first when-

“Hi.” Mina speaks softly but she’s still looking at her laptop. Jeongyeon suddenly clears her throat.

Mina then turns and looks at her ex-wife, “Good morning, Detective Yoo.” Her gummy smile instantly triggers the palpitations in Jeongyeon’s heart again.

“You already said Good Morning to me earlier, Myoui.” Jeongyeon replies out of internal panic- and all she wants to do is to just smack her own head right then.

“Oh.” Mina suddenly looks embarrassed, “Yeah..right. Sorry about that..” She shifts her gaze into her laptop again so Jeongyeon tries to salvage their conversation-

“No! I mean.. it’s ok, Myoui. You can always say good morning because it’s still morning. I mean it’s not yet lunchtime so it’s still morning. So what I mean is- it’s still morning so.. so you can always say good morning to me.” 

Jeongyeon just really wants to vanish right now because why is she suddenly rambling? She figures all her courage last night has evaporated into thin air the moment she read Mina’s note earlier.

She’s still pinching herself out of embarrassment when she hears Mina giggling. Her ex-wife looks up from her laptop again and smiles shyly, “Ok. But can I say good evening to you too?”

Jeongyeon bites her inner cheek to prevent herself from smiling,

“Yes. You can say good evening to me.”

“But not this time- because it’s still morning, right?”

“Yes, not this time. But tonight is ok. Because tonight is not morning anymore.”

“Oh.” Mina acted surprised. She leans a bit closer to Jeongyeon and asks quietly, “Are you saying we’ll be together until evening later?”

Jeongyeon’s beating heart is uncontrollable already, she opens her mouth so the smile she’s been holding back a while ago is now visible on her face. 

Mina is still leaning so close to her, she’s still smiling at her, and Jeongyeon suddenly feels like a snow slowly melting in the winter.

“Alright team! What’s the plan today?” Jihyo’s commanding voice has finally broken their moment, and the two detectives instantly shift their focus back to their Station Chief.

Jeongyeon then thinks it’s a good start. So far they haven’t thrown insults at each other yet but discussed about the technicalities of proper greetings instead. 

Yup, it’s definitely a good start. She already tells Mina she can say good morning to her whenever. She feels she’s one step closer now to actually ask her ex-wife about her note. 

*****

“So during our visit to Daegu, I have discovered this chip-” Jeongyeon raises the chip that she found in one of the power plant’s CCTVs, “which is almost identical to this.” She raises another chip which she found from the electrical post in the corner of the Mayor’s residential street.

“This is a special customized chip, it’s not a manufactured one. And I’m one of the few people who are probably very familiar with this design.” The chief detective grins confidently in front of her team.

“And during our Daegu trip, I have also discovered a hidden malware in the site’s local database. It was sneakily implanted in their local server but I was able to single out that file because I remember the way that specific code was written.”

Mina then flashes a university picture in their whiteboard.

“Isn’t that KAIST?” Dahyun asks the senior detective.

“Yes. KAIST.” Mina confirms, “The old owner of the house where we stayed for the night told us that a year ago, a batch of university students has visited the power plant for their field trip. She couldn’t remember which school was it at first- but I already had a hunch based from the chip and the malware we found. So I showed the owner the picture of the KAIST bus and she immediately confirmed it.”

“So do you already have a probable suspect in mind?” Jihyo asks the two detectives.

“Yes. We just need to visit the university to confirm it.” Jeongyeon answers her.

“But we also need to survey the club, right?” It was Sana who asks this time.

“Oh right the club. Detective Kim, care to brief us about it?” Mina gives the floor to Dahyun, who shyly stands up and explains their other findings.

“Ok. So..” Dahyun clicks the remote and the slide changes into a picture of a prominent nightclub in Gangnam. “So Detective Myoui has traced- ” 

“Correction- Detective Kim _and_ Detective Myoui. We traced it together, remember? It’s not just me.” Mina immediately interjects and then smiles at Dahyun encouragingly.

Dahyun shyly smiles back and continues her explanation,

“So Detective Myoui and I have traced that the suspect is currently hacking the secured connection of this club in Gangnam. We also found out that Kwon Dongmin and Kim Donggun’s son are both exclusive members and regulars of this club. ” 

Dahyun looks at Mina’s way and the senior detective just nods at her to continue.

“And based from the hacker’s trailing activities- it leads us to a probable conclusion that our suspect’s next target is the club’s owner.”

“Great job so far, Kim!” Jeongyeon exclaims proudly and taps her rookie team mate. 

“Ok so for today’s case leads- Detective Myoui and I will go to KAIST. Then Detective Minatozaki and Detective Kim will inspect the Gangnam club.”

“Aren’t we drawing lots for our investigation partner today?” Sana asks curiously.

“I just assigned them, Minatozaki.” Jeongyeon replies firmly.

“But boss, didn’t you say it’s unfair to choose our partners? You said we’ll draw lots everyday.” Dahyun wonders aloud.

“I said that?? When did I say that?” Jeongyeon looks at Dahyun questioningly.

The chief detective is acting so defensive right now and Mina can only internally laugh from her seat.

“Every morning, Yoo. You whine about it every morning.” Sana replies unamused.

“Really? I did??”

“Just draw lots for God’s sake!” The Station Chief commanded and everyone in the room quickly gathered to randomly draw their investigation partner for today.

*****

Jeongyeon is now sitting in her car’s driver seat- pouting and internally regretting her previous decision of passionately advocating the fairness of drawing lots to her squad. 

She’s now waiting for Sana to enter her car so they can both go to KAIST together. The chief detective is currently switching radio channels when her passenger door finally opens.

“I’ve been waiting for 15 minutes, you know? If you’re always going to be this slow, I’ll request for a new investigation partner. Time is of the essence in this field!”

Jeongyeon whines at Sana while still pressing her radio buttons.

“Oh.. Ok, I’ll just ask Sana to switch us back then.”

Jeongyeon immediately looks up when she hears the voice, and sees that Mina is about to leave her car. 

“Wait-” Jeongyeon holds Mina’s arm, “What- Why are you here? Where’s Minatozaki?”

Mina closes the door again and explains,

“I just asked Sana for us to switch partners since I think it’s best if we both go to KAIST together. We’re the ones who know this part of the investigation very well so it’s better if we’re gonna be partners for today instead.”

When Jeongyeon didn’t respond, Mina speaks again and holds the passenger door lock, “but.. if you don’t want to be my partner for today then I’ll just-”

“I didn’t say that.” Jeongyeon immediately stops her, with a satisfied grin now in danger to appear on her lips, “I really think that’s a smart decision, Myoui.”

Mina looks straight into her ex-wife’s eyes, “I know it’s a smart decision.” She then notices the restraint smile in the chief detective’s face, 

“Look at you- you’re not pouting anymore.”

“I-” Jeongyeon quickly turns her head to face the road. “Who’s pouting? I wasn’t pouting!”

“Detective Yoo..” 

“I said I wasn’t pouting!”

“Detective Yoo?”

Jeongyeon looks at Mina again, “What now, Myoui?” 

“You’re still holding my arm.” Mina replies teasingly, and Jeongyeon swears Mina should really stop with those smirking because she thinks her heart can only handle a certain number of palpitations per day. 

*****

Their investigation to KAIST that day ended smoothly with Jeongyeon and Mina finding more clues about their probable suspects. They were both so focused on trailing their leads that the chief detective momentarily forgot about the note during the entire day that they were at the university.

It is not only until now, when they are both sitting inside Jeongyeon’s car just a few minutes before sunset, when the chief detective gets quiet and ponders about her dilemma again. They are supposed to go back now to the station but Jeongyeon is still not starting the engine.

“Detective Yoo, is there something bothering you? Is it about the professor?” Mina asks quietly when she notices that her ex-wife has been sighing loudly for 5 minutes now.

“No, it’s not about the case.” 

Mina would like to ask further but she somehow had a hunch on what’s bothering her ex-wife. So she chose to remain quiet too and gives Jeongyeon enough time to properly think it through.

Jeongyeon has always been like that, and Mina knows that her ex-wife will open up eventually whenever she is ready.

For the next minutes that come after, the two detectives just sit in the car quietly while the sun sets in the parking lot and the nightly snow outside becomes heavier.

But it’s not the awkward silence anymore, not the heavy and deafening kind- because this time, it’s the comforting one. The kind of silence that allows someone to breathe. The silence that you know you have that other person beside you, and even though they’re not talking, you know that they understand what you’re going through and they’ve got your back no matter what.

So Mina just stays quiet and offers her comforting presence beside her bothered ex-wife.

“Myoui..” Jeongyeon finally speaks after a while.

“Yes, Yoo?”

“About last night..” When Jeongyeon turns to look at her ex-wife, Mina is already staring at her and giving her that encouraging smile that the chief detective knows very well. So Jeongyeon speaks again-

“I meant it. I meant every word. I meant everything.”

Mina’s stare softens, “I know.”

Those two words immediately made Jeongyeon's heart feels lighter.

Her gaze then slowly travels down to Mina’s hands, “Is the car heater enough?”

Mina quietly replies, her smile is slowly widening, “No.. it’s never enough.”

The chief detective then stretches out her hand which Mina immediately takes and intertwines together. They scoot closer to each other and this time, Mina has finally gotten the courage to lean her head on Jeongyeon’s shoulder while they quietly watch the nightly snowflakes dancing and falling in the almost empty parking lot outside.

“Yoo..”

“Yes, Myoui..”

Mina gently squeezes their intertwined hands,

“I meant it too.”

And Jeongyeon feels like she wants to cry right in that moment, she really does. Because her heart suddenly feels like Christmas- and the immense joy that she feels has transported her back to their happy and warm days together.

But little did the chief detective know, Mina already did drop some tears of joy when Jeongyeon softly planted the lightest of kisses on Mina’s soft hair- a minute after she leaned her head on her ex-wife’s shoulder.

*****

After finding out that the club in Gangnam is apparently a drug and prostitution den, Jeongyeon has formulated an undercover plan to expose their operation, and with Mina’s help- their intricate plan includes entrapping their hacker’s suspect through the club’s owner. 

Thanks to Sana and Dahyun’s thorough investigation the previous days that Jeongyeon has acquired the entirety of club’s layout- including all of its hidden rooms and basement which were not indicated in their publicly disclosed building blueprint.

And so the following Saturday night, the Entire Elite Squad goes on an undercover mission with all of them gorgeously dressed as the club’s VIP clients.

Iris, Daisy and Lily infiltrate and enter the club while Orchid remains standby inside their Squad van to monitor everything.

“Orchid, are you ready?” Mina asks Dahyun through their comms while she carefully makes her way into the bar area.

“Yes, Daisy I’m ready.” Dahyun replies but she is utterly nervous. 

Mina has assigned her an enormous and vital task in this entrapment operation which she actually tries to reject initially. But the senior detective insisted- Mina said she believes in Dahyun’s capabilities, and that it’s actually a good training for the rookie detective.

“Just remember what Daisy told you, ok? You got it, Kid. We trust in you.” Jeongyeon tries to subtly give a thumbs up to Dahyun while looking into one of the CCTVs inside the club.

Dahyun feels relieved and smiles at her Squad Leader. She then gives the go-signal to Jeongyeon to finally start their operation.

Jeongyeon stealthily walks inside one of the club’s rooms and tinkers their ventilation system,

“Phase 1 done. Lily, you’re in. Daisy get ready.”

“Copy, Iris.” Sana and Mina both replies simultaneously.

Sana, who’s been flirting with one of the guards ever since she entered the place, is now being brought to the club’s largest room- the owner’s penthouse suite. She skillfully managed to seduce and get close to the owner in the guise of applying as one of their exclusive courtesans.

When the club owner is about to kiss her in front of all her men, Sana stops him and whispers into his ears, “Don’t you want an exclusive access to me first?”

The club owner smiles at that and motions to all of her men to leave the room. As soon as Sana gets alone with the owner, she tugs him by his collar and whispers into his ears cunningly, “Phase 2 done.”

Jeongyeon immediately presses the remote to reset the air-conditioning system while Dahyun overlays the CCTVs.

A minute after, the owner is now lying unconsciously on the ground, while a masked Sana is implanting a chip into his phone. 

A masked Jeongyeon passes by all the unconscious men outside and also enters the suite. The chief detective immediately presses one of the hidden buttons into the room and Mina finally enters the club’s backup site just one floor above their hidden basement.

Jeongyeon and Sana then enters the hidden pathway from the penthouse suite which leads them to the club’s private Met laboratory.

“Kid, are you capturing this?” Jeongyeon speaks into their comms while she and Sana are both recording all the evidences in the hidden room.

“Yes boss Iris, they’re uploading now in our database.” Dahyun confirms while waiting for Mina’s signal.

“Orchid, now!” Mina quickly gives Dahyun a private access to the club’s local network while the Senior Detective is scanning the contents of the owner’s phone.

When Mina notices that their suspect is also hacking the mobile phone, she smiles and whispers- “Phase 3 in progress.”

Mina continues to trace the suspect on her end. She’s about to locate the suspect’s address in four minutes when-

“Shit!” Dahyun’s loud curse echoes in all of the Squad’s in-ears. “Daisy, he’s also hacking the network!”

“Orchid, stay calm. It’s all part of the plan remember? We anticipated it. Just focus. I need more time. Keep diverting him.” Mina replies firmly but still in her calm tone to not make Dahyun panic more.

“No! he’s accessing _our_ police database. Shit shit shit!” Dahyun is now panicking and frantically typing on her keyboard.

“Orchid, Focus. Remember plan B! Plan B can still work. I need more time.” Mina urges the rookie detective since there’s still two minutes left on her part.

“Just focus, Kid. You can do it!” Jeongyeon speaks in her commanding tone while she and Sana are already leaving the suite.

“Plan B plan B. Oh god..” Dahyun tries to redirect the hacker into their fake database but the suspect seems to have figured it out, “Daisy! he’s deleting everything! He’s wiping all our files now!”

Mina looks into the progress bar- there’s only a minute left but Dahyun needs her now. She grits her teeth and shifted the tab to help the rookie detective while she walks back inside the club’s server room.

“Ok Orchid, I got you now. Commence with Plan C and I’ll trap him.” 

Dahyun quickly follows Mina’s instruction while Mina stops the suspect’s wiping attack. Mina recovers everything that she can, including the soft copy of club’s evidences in her laptop. She can’t use their police network now so she’s storing everything in her device. 

When Mina’s counter attack gets successful, the hacker eventually retreats because Mina is now on the offensive side and is quickly locating him again. 

The suspect then sends an encrypted flashy message on Mina’s laptop screen before he completely vanishes into Mina’s network trail.

“That was fun, Detective Myoui. You’re my favorite player now. Let’s play again soon.”

The message disappeared after five seconds. 

Mina closes her laptop and starts walking to the server’s room exit door. She sighs when she speaks into their comms, “I’m sorry team.. Phase 3-” The senior detective stops on her tracks when she suddenly bumps into something bulky and solid, “… on hold..”

“Hello there Detective.” And a tall buffy armed man with messy facial hair is the last thing Mina sees before everything went to black.

*****

“Daisy? Can you hear me? Daisy!!” Jeongyeon tries to shout into their comms but all she hears are pure static noises. 

She figures wherever Mina was taken, it’s blocking and shutting all of their signals down.

Sana looks at her alarmed and Jeongyeon’s eyes widened in realization – there’s only one hidden place in the club that’s built-in to purposely act like a Faraday cage.

Jeongyeon hands Sana a chip- a GPS tracker. “It’s mine. If the signal gets lost there, call for some back-ups.”

Sana nods, “Copy, Iris.” and Jeongyeon immediately runs towards the direction where she thinks her ex-wife is.

*****

When Mina opens her eyes, she mentally notes the enclosed warehouse-like room that she’s currently in. She subtly scans the place and internally deduces that it’s probably the hidden basement of the club. 

The area is filled with huge chunks of metal, old bulky machineries, rusty giant chains, and on the other side- are empty cages. Mina’s stomach twirls with rage when her gut instinct tells her what those cages are for. 

The detective’s hands are both painfully tied at her back by what feels like a long rough thick metal chain. Surrounding her are almost two dozens of men- all heavily armed and looking at her like she’s some snack they’re about to prey on. And on her right side is a small table where her portable laptop is being inspected by one of the armed guys.

“Quick now, Detective. Tell me the password of your laptop. Then maybe I’ll let you go safely tonight, huh.”

A gruff tall man walks towards her- his eyebrows are thick and messy, a menacing smile playing in his face, overall looking like a stereotypical villain in the movies. 

He grabs Mina’s chin, roughly lifts it up to each side and speaks in his coarse voice, “You’re pretty. Would you like to play with me first before you tell me your password? ”

Mina replies calmly, “I don’t play with men. Specially with vile guys like you.” She looks at him dead straight in the eye when she speaks in her cold yet threatening tone, “I kick their asses and shove them to jail.”

The man just laughs at her. The loud irritating sound of his laughter echoes across the entire room while he leans closer to Mina, “Hmmm… Feisty. I like it. You’re making me drool, Detective. I really like women who can kick my ass so I can spank theirs in return.”

Mina grits her teeth. The man’s bad breath is making her want to puke. She’s itching to kick the guy now in his balls- harder and in such a deadly manner. 

She could actually do it swiftly if she opted to- but she’s greatly outmanned now. She might have totally knocked down the guy in front of her, but God knows if she’d make it out alive afterwards with the number of armed men encircling her now.

“Kang! Boss wants us to dispose her now. Let’s just wrap it up and kill her already.”

A smaller guy who was just in the phone earlier shouted.

Mina slightly panics but she easily regains her internal composure. This situation is not new to her- so she tries to buy some time while she thinks of a perfect way to escape.

“If you kill me now, you’ll never get to open that laptop.”

“It’s ok, we’ll just destroy it.” Kang traces the end of his gun along Mina’s jawline. “But I don’t want to kill you just yet, Detective. Specially with that kind of outfit today.” 

He scans Mina one last time and slurps perversely. “We will play with you first.”

Mina internally readies herself- at this rate she doesn’t have much choice. But she sure will definitely not die today without putting up a fight.

She’s about to lift her leg for a deadly kick when-

 _“Daisy.”_ Mina suddenly hears a very familiar deep soothing voice - “ _Daisy, can you hear me?”_

She then realizes she still has her in-ear with her - good thing her loose black hair has hidden it from the enemies. She quickly but very subtly scans the area and finally sees Jeongyeon hiding from one of the ancient rusty machines from the far end of the room.

_“Isn’t it Ironic?”_ Jeongyeon asks through the comms.

Mina knows what it means so she stares back at Kang and speaks calmly, “Don’t you think?”

Kang looks at her bewildered, “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means- Alright, we can play.” She smiles at the gruffy guy while she repositions her chained hands behind her. “But I have one request- I wanna play some music.”

Kang is now looking at her impressed, “Ohh you mean you wanna get in the mood first, Detective? I like that.”

Mina smirks back, “Yes.” 

Jeongyeon is now slowly making her way towards them, so Mina presses her smart watch. 

“I want to get in the mood. I really wanna get in the mood now.” 

And as if on cue, the intro to Ironic begins to play in her laptop. The armed guys looked surprise at first but they eventually start digging in the music and nod their heads like a puppet to Alanis’ soulful intro. 

When the chief detective is finally just a few metres away from them, Mina calls out all of the guys’ attention to her by loudly mouthing the track’s trademark pre-chorus:

“Isn’t it Ironic?” 

Mina coyly raises her eyebrow at Kang in anticipation. 

“Don’t you think?”

Kang nods excitedly and is about to sing along to Alanis’ powerful vocal chorus when Jeongyeon already launches her rifle to continuously fire from her hiding place. 

Ten unalerted men from the outside circle are instantly knocked down- not a single bullet is wasted from the elite sharpshooter that is Chief Detective Yoo Jeongyeon.

When the rest of the thugs have finally noticed her presence and immediately went into hiding, the chief detective runs to rescue her ex-wife in the middle.

Jeongyeon is as swift as ever- she moves at a lightning speed while simultaneously dodging all of the bullets being shot towards her from different directions.

Mina on the other hand was also shot- but she quickly evaded them and raised her tied hands instead so that the bullets go through her chains, breaking some of them in the process. 

Jeongyeon is only a few steps away from Mina when someone tackled her from behind and smashed her arm- her gun flew away from her hand and the chief detective fell down to the floor, with a huge muscled guy on top of her.

The guy punches Jeongyeon, and is about to fire a bullet to her face when a chain gets entangled on his neck and arms, and he was quickly dragged away from the chief detective. 

Mina pulls the chain harder towards her while she kicks a gun on the floor straightly into the lying chief detective’s hand.

Jeongyeon quickly gets up and fires a bullet towards Mina which startles the younger detective- only for Mina to hear a grunt behind her when another man fell down on the floor.

The chief detective then winks at her ex-wife from a distance, “I got your back, honey.” And then swiftly turns around again to shoot at the group of guys who are about to attack her.

Mina can only snicker at her ex-wife’s antics- she’s still the same Jeongyeon who can be such an adorably cocky detective even in the middle of flying punches and deadly bullets.

The two of them continue to fight all of the remaining men in the room while the fourth track is still blasting loudly in Mina’s laptop speaker.

When Alanis finally finishes the song, five men are now entangled together in metal chains while the rest are unconsciously lying on the floor. Groups of armed policemen immediately enter the basement a few minutes after, with Sana and Dahyun trailing them.

Jeongyeon commanded her squad mates to retrieve Mina’s laptop while she worriedly rushes towards her ex-wife, “Are you ok?”

Mina quickly turns around and when Jeongyeon gets near her, she puts a gentle hand on her ex-wife’s face, “You’re hurt.”

The chief detective is taken aback by the sudden touch but she’s still looking at Mina worriedly-

“You could have died.”

Mina just smiles at her, “But I didn’t. You rescued me.”

“But you could have..” Jeongyeon’s heart is still aching of the possibility when Mina quickly stops her.

“But I didn’t, Yoo. And you’re the one who’s actually hurt now.” The chief detective can now feel the light gentle brushes of Mina’s thumb across the bruise on her face. 

And when Mina’s eyes reflect the deepest of worry, Jeongyeon figures she can’t delay everything now.

She gently holds Mina’s wrist- the one that’s holding her face, “Mina..” She calls her ex-wife now by her first name, but this time it’s intentional- “I think we really need to talk.”

Mina’s worried gaze shifts from Jeongyeon’s bruise to her ex-wife’s eyes. Her hand slowly slides to gently cup Jeongyeon’s jaw when she replies softly, “Ok...”

Her stare quickly softens into one that holds the special kind of fondness that’s only reserved for Jeongyeon. She smiles at her ex-wife lovingly when she raises her other hand to fully cradle both of her ex-wife’s cheeks.

“If that’s what you want then.. honey, we will talk.” 

Jeongyeon’s heart stills almost immediately.

And when Mina coyly smiles at her afterwards, Jeongyeon knows she heard it right.

It’s amazing really- how after all these years, despite all the heartaches, just hearing that one sweet word from her ex-wife again has instantly rendered Jeongyeon speechless. 

_..Honey.._ \- Jeongyeon slowly leans into Mina’s touch. 

Mina gently brushes her face again.

_..Honey.._

It suddenly feels like the first time.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 04: Ironic by Alanis Morissette
> 
> Next track: one of my favorite songs in JeongMi's playlist.  
>   
> Next Chapter: one of my favorite chapters in this fic. hehe JeongMi 💚
> 
> P.S. Stream Cry For Me! The song is so good! 
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	5. Track 05: Need To Be Next To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a JeongMi "hot chocolate talk"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the spirit of Christmas, I present to you this chapter. 🎄

*****

After wrapping up their exhausting day of undercover operation, Jeongyeon invited Mina to her house so they could finally _talk._

On their way home, Mina bought a medicine and applied some on Jeongyeon’s bruise. The process of which was incredibly difficult for the chief detective because Mina’s face was so close to her the entire time. Her ex-wife even had the audacity to softly blow on her bruise which nearly took a toll on Jeongyeon because Mina’s lips was just inches away from her own- and she almost.. almost gave in.

After that, the tension inside the car becomes heavy and thick- so thick and heated that Mina’s body instantly feels warm even though Jeongyeon was driving and wasn’t holding her hand.

When they finally reached the house, the _tension_ somehow subsided- much to both of their nervous hearts’ relief. Jeongyeon opens the door and welcomes Mina inside, but not after shyly putting down a pair of old penguin home slippers.

A spark of joy instantly blooms inside Mina’s chest after seeing the slippers,

“You didn’t throw it?”

“Nah. They’re cute and still useable. I think it’s such a waste to throw it.” 

Jeongyeon replies so coolly as if it’s just a generic everyday fact. But the chief detective grins from ear-to-ear when she turns her back from Mina, because her ex-wife is now smiling giddily after wearing her favorite pair of comfy footwear again.

When they reached the living room with Mina just a few steps behind Jeongyeon, both of them simultaneously stopped walking for a while.

There’s a quiet pause between them, and even though Jeongyeon’s back is facing her, Mina knows that they are both looking at the same picture on the wall.

“I’ve always loved that dress on you. You look so beautiful in there.” Mina finally breaks their silence and speaks in such a delicate tone that one may assume she just blurts out a shy confession.

Jeongyeon slowly turns around and faces her ex-wife, “I know. That’s why I didn’t remove that picture. Because I know I look pretty in there.” 

The chief detective tries to keep a smug face but the blush in her cheeks betrays her. 

“Glad I’m just stating out the obvious then.” 

Mina subtly smirks and Jeongyeon’s blush deepens.

They continue to quietly smile at each other when Jeongyeon’s stomach starts to growl loudly.

“Oh right, we didn’t have dinner yet.” Mina tells her and starts making her way into the kitchen.

Mina opened the fridge, and when she didn’t find what she’s looking for, she starts opening the kitchen cupboards one by one.

“What are you doing?” Jeongyeon asks as soon as she steps inside the kitchen too.

“You don’t have any food in the fridge anymore. You should try to do your groceries too, your pantry is almost empty.” 

Mina didn’t answer her question while she continues to inspect each cabinet- one of which only contains an unopened cereal box and some packs of instant ramen.

“There’s no need. I rarely eat in here anyway. And no one’s cooking in here anymore so..” Jeongyeon’s voice trails off when she realizes what she just said.

Mina stops on her searching and faces her ex-wife with a genuine smile, “That’s why I’m cooking dinner now.” She raises her left hand that’s holding some packs of instant noodles, “..would ramyeon be ok for you tonight?”

“Anything you cook is ok for me.” 

Mina smiles wide at Jeongyeon’s response. When she turns her back to look for the pot and starts cooking, the chief detective quietly stares at her ex-wife with a nostalgic smile. 

Jeongyeon feels like she time travelled to the past again. She greatly fights the urge to suddenly hug her ex-wife from behind and pepper her with neck kisses- a habit that she misses and would likely wants to do now if only Mina would give her permission to.

They eat their unhealthy but savory dinner quietly, only talking about the case’s progress in between, with both of them obviously avoiding the supposed topic of the night. Jeongyeon then volunteers to wash the dishes while Mina brews their hot _after-meal_ coffee on the side.

When the chief detective finishes washing and sits beside Mina in the couch, she accepts the hot coffee mug that her ex-wife offered to her. 

The TV is off, no music is playing in the background, and both detectives just sip their warm drink silently while subtly gauging who’s going to have the courage to speak first this time. 

Jeongyeon was already sure what exact question she’d ask Mina when she invited her ex-wife tonight. But with every nostalgic thing that happened so far for the past hour since Mina entered their house, there’s that sudden familiar ache that’s dangerously looming in her chest again.

And so before she can even stop herself, the chief detective has already re-opened the very thing that they tried to avoid mentioning for the past weeks that they’ve been working together.

“Were you happy?” It slips out of Jeongyeon’s tongue- the words tasted bitter and lonely as it sounded in Mina’s ears.

Mina instantly felt heavy, but she knows she can’t run away now. She looks at her dissipating coffee smoke for a moment before she replies quietly, “No, I wasn’t. I never was.. ever since that night.” 

But she still didn’t spare Jeongyeon a glance- because she can’t, she doesn’t have the strength to look her ex-wife in the eyes yet. So Mina’s stare remains locked down on her coffee mug.

“Why?” Jeongyeon feels like the pain in her heart is growing again. “But you said it was your dream.. Why.. why weren’t you happy?”

It wasn’t the answer that Jeongyeon expected. She feels like she cannot accept it. She thinks that knowing that at least Mina has finally gotten her happiness- that could at least justify the years of pain and loneliness that she felt when they got separated. 

“I lied.” Mina slowly lifts her head, “I lied about everything..” Her shaky voice trails off quietly while she looks at Jeongyeon with the deepest shade of guilt.

Jihyo often tells her that it was never her fault- but the circumstances of their past. Yet despite all of her friend’s logical and comforting words, Mina always feels that it is- everything was all her fault. After all, she was the one who called for their divorce.

Everything that happened between her and Jeongyeon after that night- Mina feels it was all because of her. She is both the root cause and the after effects. She has brought pain to the one person that she has ever loved, still loves, and would probably only love for the rest of her days.

So Mina wants Jeongyeon to scream at her, to vent out all of the pain that she have caused her. Because it is only then that Mina would truly feel that she is finally forgiven. That she deserves every piece of affection that Jeongyeon is giving her now.

But Jeongyeon just stays quiet. She just looks at Mina with a mix of pain and confusion reflected in her eyes.

Mina then looks down on Jeongyeon’s hands because her ex-wife’s gaze is boring into her. 

“I’m sorry.. ” 

“I don’t understand.”

“I lied and I’m sorry..”

“What was the real reason then?”

The _real reason._

Mina suddenly can’t breathe when she thinks of the real reason. Her heart starts to feel even heavier than it already is and her body feels weaker. “I..” Her vision gets blurry and she feels her eyes getting wet. Yet she still tries to muster up the courage to speak because Jeongyeon deserves an answer.

“I.. I lied.. the reason.. it’s..” the coffee mug in Mina’s hand could might as well be crushed with how tight she’s gripping it now. “..the reason is..”

Mina can’t speak anymore. While trying to give Jeongyeon an honest answer, all the memories that she tries hard to forget came haunting back again, and the constricting pain in her heart is already suffocating her.

Jeongyeon wants to be mad, to shout at her ex-wife, but Mina looks defeated. Her ex-wife looks so small and vulnerable and Jeongyeon just wants to hug her then. 

She’s been fighting the urge to wipe the tears that are dropping nonstop on Mina’s coffee mug and hands. But Jeongyeon can’t do that yet.. not until she confirms something-

“Did you cheat on me?”

“No!” Mina looks up to Jeongyeon when she answers quickly. “No.. do you think I can ever do that to you?”

“How would I know, Mina? You’re not telling me everything.”

“I would never cheat on you, Jeong. Never.”

A tears-filled Mina replies to her firmly, but her face still looks so broken and vulnerable that Jeongyeon isn’t able to control herself anymore.

The chief detective finally reaches out and pulls the mug out of Mina’s grip to set it on the coffee table. Then she holds Mina’s cold hands and gently wipes the tears on her ex-wife’s face. 

“Then tell me.. why did you ask for a divorce?”

Jeongyeon is touching her again, ever so gentle. And Mina feels like she doesn’t deserve any of this.

“I’m sorry.. I.. I can’t tell you yet.. I couldn’t..” 

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I do.. I do trust you. You’re one of the few people that I only trust but..” Mina replies truthfully, while she looks at Jeongyeon and silently begs for understanding, “I just can’t force myself to tell you everything now..”

Between the two of them, it’s always been Mina who always struggles with words, especially if it involves real life emotions. But whatever her ex-wife is lacking, Mina always compensates it through her actions. 

So despite Mina not explaining everything to her, Jeongyeon isn’t mad. 

Mina is looking at her in a way that makes Jeongyeon feel like she already understands what her ex-wife is going through, or maybe even have gone through. So instead of forcing her ex-wife further, the chief detective just continues to wipe Mina’s tears away.

“I’m sorry..” Mina quietly apologizes again while Jeongyeon gently brushes her cheeks.

“You already said sorry, Mina.”

“But it wasn’t enough.. I’ve hurt you.. so much..”

“Yes you hurt me. The pain was unbearable..” Jeongyeon gently tucks some strands of hair away from Mina’s face, 

“But you were hurting too, right?” 

Hearing those words from her ex-wife, Mina’s eyes welled up with more tears. Jeongyeon is now staring at her so tenderly. And even though the chief detective’s eyes are also tinged with pain, her gaze is filled with quiet understanding that Mina can’t help but cry harder.

Mina’s heart feels both broken and protected with how Jeongyeon never fails to understand her, even if she still doesn’t say a word. 

She feels like she can’t contain it any longer so she lifts her hand and gently holds her ex-wife’s face. She smiles at Jeongyeon longingly and softly whispers - her voice carrying all the intense yearning she’s been bottling up for the past three years,

“I love you.” 

She caresses Jeongyeon’s cheeks while tears continue to stream endlessly across her face,

“I miss you every day.”

And it is only then that Jeongyeon finally breaks. 

She didn’t cry when she found out that Mina lied to her. She didn’t even cry when the pain of their separation came rushing back to her again. She feels like she has shed enough tears for that already.

But it is with Mina’s heartfelt confession that Jeongyeon finds herself bawling again, and she immediately pulls Mina into a tight hug while both of them cries in each other’s embrace.

Mina repeats her confession over and over again in between her quiet sobs. She can’t tell her ex-wife the whole story yet, but she would at least tell Jeongyeon now how much she have missed her, how much she still loves her. 

Jeongyeon didn’t speak while she continues to cry on her ex-wife’s shoulder. Mina’s repeated confession only fuels her tears more because after all these years- she also loves Mina just the same.

And despite all of the pain and heartbreaks- there isn’t even a single day that her love ever falters. 

*****

When they finally have both calmed down, Jeongyeon pulls away from the hug and gently holds Mina’s hands.

“I’ll tell you everything eventually..” Mina sniffles, “But for now, let me just make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?”

“I want you to forgive me.”

Jeongyeon narrows her slightly swelling eyes at her ex-wife, “There’s no need. Whatever it is that you’ve done, I’ve already forgiven you.”

“But it’s not enough.” Mina squeezes her ex-wife’s hands and looks at Jeongyeon with determined eyes.

Jeongyeon knows that purposeful stare very well. So she just sighs in retreat and asks, 

“Would that help you feel better?”

“Yes.” Mina meekly smiles, “So will you please let me? Make it up to you?”

“On one condition.” Jeongyeon lifts her one hand and cups Mina’s left cheek. 

Mina’s eyes are curious and innocent while she waits for her ex-wife’s answer, so Jeongyeon gets shy and averts her stare away from Mina’s face, before it even trails down to her ex-wife’s lips.

“Nevermind.” Jeongyeon shyly pulls out her hand and stares at the TV- her black smart TV now looks ten times more interesting. “You can do whatever you want if that’s what makes you ha-.”

She suddenly feels a familiar soft sensation on her left cheek. It lingered a bit yet Jeongyeon feels like it’s fleeting. Her cheek now feels warm when she looks back at Mina and shyly clears her throat.

“It’s not balanced.”

“What’s not balanced?” Mina’s smile is equally shy yet her tone is playful.

“I have two cheeks.” Jeongyeon shyly replies while putting a finger on her other cheek, “My right cheek is sad now. She doesn’t get to have a kiss.”

Mina rolls her eyes while she holds Jeongyeon’s face, 

“Then let’s make them both happy.”

And with that- she kisses Jeongyeon’s other cheek and it lingers on her ex-wife’s skin a bit longer than the first one. The chief detective’s heart flies with the tickling sensation of Mina’s soft lips on her skin. 

It sends a fluttery feeling on her stomach and it only made her crave for more. So when Mina pulls back, Jeongyeon pouts and attempts to whine,

“That was a bit longer. My left cheek is jealous now.”

Mina is now smirking when she tugs Jeongyeon’s face closer to her,

“Are you sure that your left cheek is the only one who’s jealous?”

Jeongyeon gulps and her heart begins to pound harder when she notices that Mina’s gaze travels down to her lips, “I mean.. there are other body parts that are jealous too.”

“Like what?”

Jeongyeon slowly leans in, “like..” she raises her hand and puts it around Mina’s nape, “..you know..” she stops just a few inches away from Mina’s lips and breathes out, “the part which you’re currently staring at.” Jeongyeon softly blows a warm air that Mina’s fingers dig deeper into her face, “..honey, looks like yours is kinda impatient, don’t you think?”

When the chief detective finally decided to stop her teasing and closes the distance between them, Track 02 suddenly plays so loudly from her phone, so Mina gets startled and she jumps slightly from her seat.

Still, the chief detective didn’t mind it so she pulls Mina closer again, determined. But then Vanessa Carlton starts singing and it startles them again-

“Are you getting that?” Mina murmurs to her impatiently. The nearly two inches of distance between their lips is now driving Jeongyeon insane.

The song is getting louder now so Mina decided to slightly push her ex-wife away, 

“It might be an emergency.”

Jeongyeon retreats, albeit annoyed - after all their work involves protecting and saving lives and it doesn’t have any specific time of the day when it would finally happen. 

So she picks up her phone and whines at the caller- 

“Park Jihyo I swear to god this better be important or else-”

The chief detective suddenly stops speaking and her expression quickly shifted into a serious one. She looks at Mina while she continues to listen to Jihyo on the other end of the line.

Jeongyeon stands up as soon as their call ends. 

“We need to go back to the station.”

“What is it?” Mina also stands up and is now following her ex-wife to the door.

“The Mayor’s son is freed and he’s currently at the station.”

“And the Mayor?” Mina quickly asks knowing the history of their suspect’s crimes.

“He’s also safe but-”

“But what?”

Jeongyeon looks at her ex-wife alarmed while she hands over Mina’s winter coat as they prepare to leave, “The suspect has finally surrendered.”

Mina’s eyes widened. Her detective instinct tells her that this doesn’t feel right. 

And with the way her ex-wife is looking at her, she knows that Jeongyeon also feels the same.

*****

Mina was surprised when she saw the truck driver inside their station’s interrogation room. 

When Sana came back from interrogating their suspect, the profiler immediately comments,

“He’s lying.”

“I knew it.” Mina quickly added.

“I don’t know yet why he surrendered but he’s clearly not the hacker.” Sana replies matter-of-factly.

“Something’s fishy. This doesn’t feel right.” Mina appears anxious while inspecting their _'suspect'_ through the one-way mirror.

“I know. The Mayor also wants to close the case now since he already recovers his son again and we already got our suspect.”

“Yeah, I heard. Detective Yoo is already discussing that with the Mayor and Chief Park outside.” 

“Sana..” Mina then looks at Sana alarmed, “I’ve already got the DNA results from the hair strands that you recovered from the suspect’s cap.”

“And?”

“Only some of the hair matches to him.” Mina shifts her gaze again to the suspect who’s seemingly looking back to them from the inside of the room.

“The other strands belong to the KAIST professor.”

Needless to say, the Mayor eventually demanded for a full investigation freeze of their case. Despite Jeongyeon’s protest to Jihyo, the Station Chief cannot do much since she’s being pressured by their higher ups. 

With their case now being temporarily halted, the chief detective secretly commanded her team to continue with their investigation since all of their current leads point to a different suspect.

*****

Since they get a bit more time to spare now because of the case’s new status, Mina take this as an opportunity to fulfill her promise to Jeongyeon.

In the following days Mina stayed true to her words – she did almost everything she can think of just to _make up_ for her ex-wife. 

Jeongyeon just let her because she knows that would help Mina feel at ease. And even though the chief detective thinks it’s really not necessary, she is still internally looking forward to it every day because it feels good to be taken care of by Mina again.

Every morning, Mina always prepared packed breakfast and lunch for three to five people. She and Jeongyeon would always eat them together, either in their station’s pantry or inside Jeongyeon’s car when they are both assigned on the same investigation task. 

Sometimes the pair would eat the packed meals with their squad too whenever Sana and Dahyun is in the station with them. And most of the time, Mina also set aside a separate pack for Jihyo because the extremely busy Station Chief often forgets to eat her lunch.

Mina is always attentive to Jeongyeon’s needs, and the chief detective is always sensitive to her ex-wife’s subtle body languages and reactions. 

Whenever Jeongyeon does something basic like kissing her ex-wife’s backhand and Mina suddenly gets teary-eyed, the chief detective always pulls her into a tight embrace, and then Mina smiles gummily again.

*****

In the weekend that follows, the Special Operations Unit had their annual Christmas Party at the station and the entire Elite Squad exchanged gifts with one another. 

After the party, Jeongyeon pulls Mina inside one of their investigation rooms to personally give her special gift. 

She surprises Mina with a smart watch that is paired with her own. It’s a special device which the chief detective has personally designed and customized. It has a separate private feature that only works with Mina’s watch- so it functions like a couple smart watch too.

Mina on the other hand, gave Jeongyeon another pair of transition eyeglass. It is similar to the chief detective’s current device but has an upgraded software features which Mina herself has personally coded. It comes with a pair of contact lens that has the same upgraded functionalities and settings as the eyeglass.

Jeongyeon is still on a high while trying out Mina’s gift for her when the senior detective hands over her mobile phone, “I have another gift for you.”

“What is it?” Jeongyeon asks after getting the phone from Mina’s hands.

“You can now edit our chat’s group name again. Come on try it!” 

Jeongyeon thinks it’s not necessary to change the name anymore, but Mina is looking so eager when she announces her extra _gift,_ so she still tries it nonetheless.

**IRIS** changed the group name to **IRIS’ Minions 2.0**

“See. It works now! I granted you admin access again.” 

Mina exclaims excitedly. She looks so adorable now in Jeongyeon’s eyes so the chief detective grins cheekily when she opens their group chat and type again-

**IRIS** changed the group name to **3 Detectives and 1 Goddess**

**Lily (7:14 PM)**

Wow Iris, are you promoting self-love now?

or wait, am I the Goddess?

**IRIS (7:15 PM)**

In your dreams

**Orchid (7:16 PM)**

Oh.. so is it me boss? 

Thank you! I’m flattered.

**IRIS (7:16 PM)**

Kid, you still need to level up a lot to reach Goddess status

**Lily** changed the group name to **IRIS’ Minions 2.0**

 **IRIS** changed the group name to **3 Detectives and 1 Ethereal Alluring Perfect Goddess**

**Lily (7:18 PM)**

Why are you pushing so hard to be the Goddess??

And what’s up with those cringey adjectives?

Daisy, can you lock the group name again.

Iris is getting conceited now.

**IRIS (7:19 PM)**

I am not the Goddess ok!

There’s only one deserving Goddess in our team

and it's definitely not you!

**Lily (7:20 PM)**

Hmmm…

**Orchid (7:20 PM)**

Hmmm…

**Lily (7:21 PM)**

Hmmmmmmmmmmm…

**Orchid (7:21 PM)**

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm???

**Daisy (7:23 PM)**

Orchid, great singing earlier

Didn’t know you play the piano so well

Merry Christmas, Team!

**Lily (7:24 PM)**

Merry Christmas too,

Goddess! 😉

**Orchid (7:25 PM)**

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

**Orchid (7:25 PM)**

and thank you, Daisy

I mean Goddess!!! 😄

**IRIS (7:26 PM)**

Merry Christmas, Goddess 😘😘😘

Don't forget to stay warm 🤗

Back in the investigation room, Mina is cringing so hard while reading their group chat, but she is smiling gummily when she faces Jeongyeon and whines-

“I can’t believe you did that to our thread!” 

Mina slaps Jeongyeon’s arm lightly. Her cheeks are blushing so profusely and she looks extremely embarrassed.

“Why? did I lie?” Jeongyeon teases her ex-wife more, a cheeky grin is now playing on her lips.

“Yes you lied.” Mina tries to put up a straight face but failed.

“You don’t like being called a Goddess? But it’s true though.” Jeongyeon raises her eyebrow teasingly, 

“You’re one _Ethereal Alluring Perfect Goddess_ to me honey.”

Mina slaps her ex-wife’s arm more, her embarrassed blush is even deepening at Jeongyeon’s teasing. 

So the chief detective scoots closer and speaks in a playful tone, “But you know what’s the other thing that’s true?” She leans in and whispers into Mina’s ear, “I’ve been dying to know how it is to be kissed by a Goddess.” 

“Oh yeah?” Mina replies breathily, her erratic heartbeats quickening in anticipation when Jeongyeon holds her nape and threads her hair gently. The touch of her ex-wife’s fingertips is sending shivers down Mina’s spine.

Jeongyeon smirks when she sees that Mina’s lips are now slightly parted, “Yes, I’ve been curious.” The chief detective whispers when she slides her hand to gently cup Mina’s cheek. She stares at her ex-wife intensely when she murmurs in her breathy and needy tone, “Can you satisfy my curiosity now?”

Mina holds her breath when she pulls Jeongyeon closer and they’re about to finally kiss when-

“Merry Christmas Fools!!!”

Jihyo announces in her megaphone-like voice when she barges in the investigation room startling both detectives inside. 

The Station Chief is holding a gift on her one hand, and her excited face turns into a slight disgust when she speaks again, “Don’t tell me you’re making out in my station??”

Mina glares subtly at her friend, feeling disappointed. 

While Jeongyeon whines and replies, “We didn’t even get to start!”

Jihyo looks scandalized when she walks closer towards her two friends,

“At least have the decency to get a room!”

“We are in a room..” Mina quietly comments.

“Yeah, we are actually in a room, Ji. It’s you who disturbed us.” 

Jeongyeon immediately adds when she heard her ex-wife speaks.

“Oh wow so it’s my fault now?? I’m sorry that I was so excited to give my Christmas gifts to my two beloved friends. But I guess I’m such a bad friend after all. How dare am I to disturb their make out session in my station.” 

Jihyo dramatically declares while boldly gesturing out her hands to point out to the entire room, 

“INSIDE MY STATION!”

But Jeongyeon didn’t mind her, having been used to the Station Chief’s dramatic antics, so she just stands up instead and asks nonchalantly,

“So what’s your gifts to us?”

And Jihyo sends her a piercing glare, while Mina laughs heartily on the side when Jeongyeon starts unwrapping the gift box that the Station Chief brought to them.

*****

Later that day, Mina went inside the Station Chief’s office to personally give her own Christmas gift to her friend.

“So are you two back together again?” Although Jihyo already knows the answer, she still asks to get the confirmation directly from Mina.

“Yes. But we’re taking it slowly now.”

“I take it that you still haven’t tell Jeong everything yet?”

“Yeah..” Mina sighs, “I still can’t, Ji. Even if I wanted to, my body won’t let me.”

“It’s ok, Mina. Take your time.” Jihyo smiles at her friend reassuringly. “I’m really happy that you gave yourselves another chance. You both deserve it.”

The Station Chief’s delightful smile is radiant but it quickly shifted into a slightly somber face when she remembered something, “I just have one request though.” 

“What is it?” 

“Just tone down the skinship in the station, will you?”

“But you didn’t have any problems with it before?” Mina looks at her friend questioningly.

Jihyo scoffs unamused, “Come on Mina, it’s winter, and it’s December! I’m happy with my life right now but sometimes it’s just.. some days it’s just extremely colder and not everyone has someone to cuddle with ok? Have some mercy to the singles here.”

Mina smiles so widely after hearing her friend’s concern. “Oh so in summary, you just want someone to cuddle you?” She walks closer to Jihyo and teases her friend further, 

“Come on here my dear Rosie, your beloved Daisy will give you a hug then.”

The senior detective then envelops Jihyo into a tight hug, and the Station Chief whines dramatically while struggling to get out from Mina’s embrace,

“Thank you Daisy but I didn’t ask for your hug.”

Mina slightly pulls away and raises her eyebrow at her friend,

“Why because you want Lily’s hug instead of mine?”

Jihyo pauses and looks away from Mina’s knowing yet teasing stare. The Station Chief then sighs quietly and her shoulders droop down a bit, “She already have Dahyun..” 

“They’re still not officially together, I think.”

“So? do you want me steal her away from my own detective?”

“No. I want you to act on that.” Mina points a finger on Jihyo’s chest. “That thing that you’ve been hiding for many years now. At least let Sana know how you truly feel.”

“It’s already too late..” Jihyo looks at her friend and smiles weakly. “I’m ok, Mina. I’m happy being single now.”

“Are you really?”

“Yes I am.” Jihyo answers truthfully, firmly. 

“I can see that she’s happy now with Detective Kim. Besides, I don’t think I can give her the time that she deserves if she ever chooses to be with me. I don’t even have time for myself sometimes. I’m already contented seeing her happy.. even if it’s not with me.” 

Jihyo smiles at Mina again and reassures her friend, “I’m happy now, Mina. I really am.”

Mina smiles back sincerely and nods in understanding.

She knows that her friend is telling the truth- Jihyo is genuinely happy with her life right now, with her career and her friends. 

Yet Mina also knows that sometimes, there are days when Jihyo can’t help but feel a bit envious, specially when she sees Jeongyeon and Mina being happy together. The Station Chief has told her about it before and Mina thinks that it’s just normal. 

So instead of teasing her friend further, Mina presses her smart watch and holds the Station Chief’s hands.

“You should take care of yourself more, Ji. You know Jeong and I are just here for you, right?” 

Jeongyeon then comes barging inside Jihyo’s office few seconds after,

“What is it?”

Mina turns to her ex-wife smiling,

“Ji says she’s cold now. I think it’s time to revive the _Flower Power_.”

Jeongyeon’s eyes immediately light up with excitement while Jihyo’s expression reflect that of a slight terror-

“Ohh Flower Power. It’s been a while.” The smirking chief detective is now walking towards the two ladies while Mina pulls the Station Chief towards her when Jihyo tries to escape.

And before Jihyo can even protest, she’s now being squeezed tightly in the middle of her two closest friends who are currently group hugging her. Jeongyeon then exclaims, _“Power Hug!!”_

With that, Jeongyeon and Mina embrace Jihyo much tighter which earns another dramatic whine from the Station Chief, “Yo! I can’t breathe!!”

But Mina just ignores her and declares instead, _“Power Jump!!”_

So Jeongyeon jumps and Mina quickly follows through. Both of them are now excitedly jumping Jihyo along in a tight group hug. 

Jihyo can feel the extreme giddiness of her two best friends, and it instantly sends a nostalgic and warm feeling in her sometimes lonely heart. And in all honesty- it feels really good to be embraced by them again. 

So instead of continuing with her faux whining, the Station Chief finally lets out the wide smile she’s been holding back when she exclaims the last chant- _“Flower Power!!”_

Then the detective trio excitedly jumps in circular motion inside the Station Chief’s office, all while they continue to hug each other tightly.

And right in that short blissful moment, Jihyo feels like it’s the good old days again- back when _Rose_ , _Iris_ and _Daisy_ are still senior and rookie detectives in SMPA. 

Those days when they’re still not fully exposed to the cruelty and harsh reality of crime and politics. Back when they still have the time to do silly things such as this _Flower Power_ whenever they get to complete a training or a mission together.

The Station Chief’s heart suddenly feels warm again in the middle of winter. Jihyo thinks that being single is ok as long as she’s surrounded with her most treasured friends. Jeongyeon and Mina’s never ending love and support is enough for her anyway. 

It feels really good. Truly the good old days.

***** 

One Sunday afternoon just five days before Christmas, Jeongyeon is happily eating her sumptuous brunch which Mina has prepared for her two nights before, when her house’s doorbell buzzed continuously. 

She opened the door and was greeted by a tall pine tree standing in front of her doorsteps- the chief detective immediately smiles when she notices a red beanie peeping cutely in between the green leaves at the back of the tree.

“Surprise!” A sweet excited cheer instantly flutters Jeongyeon’s heart before a beaming Mina steps in front and greeted her good morning.

“Don’t tell me you got this tree from the mountains alone?” 

Jeongyeon asks worriedly after knowing how extremely freezing it is in the mountains at this time of the month. She shoves off some specks of snow from Mina’s beanie and helps her ex-wife put the tree inside their house.

“Ji went with me and helped me.”

“But why didn’t you ask me instead? We could have gone together like we always do.”

“I wanted to surprise you.” Mina tells her excitedly. “Were you surprised?”

“Yes Rudolph, I was extremely surprised.” Jeongyeon pokes Mina’s reddening nose. 

Her ex-wife looks so adorable and fluffy in her thick oversized blue winter jacket, scarf and red beanie that Jeongyeon can’t help but squeeze her into a tight hug. “Was it freezing out there?”

“Super.” Mina hugs Jeongyeon back and quickly nuzzles into the crook of the chief detective’s warm neck. 

They stay like that in their living room doorway for a couple of minutes. Jeongyeon is gently rubbing her ex-wife’s back, and Mina is pressing herself even closer to the chief detective’s warm and comfortable embrace.

“Do you still have the Christmas balls?” Mina whispers into Jeongyeon’s neck after a while, and the chief detective’s body instantly feels ten times warmer at the sudden touch of Mina’s lips on her skin.

“Of course.” Jeongyeon replies breathily, her heart is now thumping at faster speed with how her ex-wife’s body is cozily pressed against her.

Mina then slightly pulls away from the hug to look at her ex-wife, her eyes sparkling with excitement,

“Now we can finally do our tradition!” 

The younger detective’s face is just inches away from her now. Mina is looking up to her so adorably- both nose and cheeks are tinted with red blush because of the freezing weather, her smiling lips are slightly chapped yet so inviting that Jeongyeon is extremely tempted to just lean down and kiss her.

But Mina’s stomach suddenly growls loudly so the chief detective just pats Mina’s head and grins at her ex-wife instead, “Later, Rudolph. Let’s feed you first.”

*****

When Jeongyeon and Mina got married and started living together years ago, they had this yearly tradition of getting a pine tree from the mountains every first day of December. They’d put the pine tree in one corner of their living room and decorate it together. 

For the couple, it’s their way of marking the start of the Christmas season and it used to be one of the most anticipated activities that Mina was looking forward to every year – since the younger detective always enjoys decorating their house especially during the holiday season. 

Jeongyeon too was looking forward to it every year, but mainly for a different reason- it’s because at the end of them decorating the tree together, the chief detective would hang a mistletoe by their door and Mina would then pull her ex-wife for a soft and gentle kiss, which most of the time escalated to an intense make-out session, and then would escalate further into well.. such a cozy and deeply heated activity during winter.

So after their lunch, one can only imagine the anticipation of the chief detective when Jeongyeon walks into their small storage room and pulls out the different boxes containing all of their Christmas decorations. 

It’s the first time in three years that Jeongyeon is pulling out these cartons again, that piles of dust have already accumulated on most of them. 

When the chief detective blows off some dusts in one of the boxes, Mina’s cursive handwriting of _“Christmas balls”_ came into clear view. 

Jeongyeon then traces each letter slowly and her heart begins to swell with so much nostalgia as happy moments of their yearly tradition begins to flood her memory lane. 

The chief detective then walks out from their storage room, carrying three boxes of Christmas decorations on both hands, and a wide radiant smile on her face. 

It might be the first time in a while that she gets to be this excited for Christmas again.

It’s already 8PM when the couple finally finished decorating their Christmas tree and the entire living room when Mina notices that Jeongyeon is impatiently scrambling the boxes again.

“What is it hon? What are you looking for?”

“I can’t find the mistletoe!” 

Mina squints and walks towards her ex-wife to help her,

“It should just be inside the flower box. That’s where we used to put it right?”

But despite Mina also helping her, they still can’t find the specific ornament after many minutes of inspecting all of the boxes again.

So Jeongyeon pouts and exhales loudly, 

“Where is that damn mistletoe..”

“Jeong, we could just buy one tomorrow since the shops are already closed now.”

“But I want to hang the mistletoe now!” 

The chief detective whines and slumps lazily on the floor.

Mina raises an eyebrow at her whining ex-wife. Jeongyeon looks so determined to have a mistletoe be put up by their door tonight.

She walks closer to Jeongyeon, a hunch bubbling up her head when she sits beside her ex-wife on the floor and asks playfully, 

“Why? Why are you so eager on having a mistletoe be set up tonight, huh?”

“A Christmas decoration isn’t complete without a mistletoe hanging above the door.”

Mina leans closer, just a couple of inches away from a pouting Jeongyeon,

“Is that the only reason?”

Jeongyeon gulps, with the coy smirk now playing in Mina’s lips, she knows that her ex-wife is challenging her. Mina then holds her face and whispers deeply which only made Jeongyeon’s heart beat faster,

“Why does it sound like you’re only making it as an excuse to do something?”

Mina’s teasing face excites the chief detective and Jeongyeon suddenly wants her ex-wife to make the first move this time. So instead of actually closing the distance between them, Jeongyeon grins and replies smugly, her tone equally challenging, “Excuse for what?”

“I don’t know..” Mina leans even closer and Jeongyeon holds her breath in anticipation. When their noses are already touching, Jeongyeon closes her eyes and waits. But then Mina tilts her head to the side and Jeongyeon feels another lingering kiss on her cheek. Mina then pecks her jaw and whispers, “… you tell me.”

When Jeongyeon finally opens her eyes, Mina is already walking towards their kitchen. Her ex-wife then turns around to face her, a playful smirk is now ghosting on Mina’s lips when she speaks teasingly,

“Honey, you don’t need any damn mistletoe just for you to kiss me.”

*****

After their dinner, Jeongyeon lights up the house’s old fireplace while Mina makes them her signature winter hot chocolate.

When Mina sits on the fluffy cushions that Jeongyeon arranged in front of the fireplace, she felt a soft and thick blanket draping over her shoulders as the chief detective also settles down beside her. 

They quietly sit by each other for a couple of minutes- them sharing blankets with Mina leaning on Jeongyeon’s shoulder, while both of them sips on their hot chocolate and enjoys the comfortable heat emanating from the orange embers blazing in front of them.

Mina then picks up her phone and plays the fifth track in their playlist. Jeongyeon smiles knowingly as soon as the first verse starts. 

When the chorus plays, the chief detective carefully repositions herself to hug Mina from behind. She pulls her ex-wife closer by the waist and engulfs her into a comfortable embrace.

They stay like that quietly for the entire duration of the song- with Mina pressing her back further into her ex-wife’s hold, and Jeongyeon just nuzzling her face onto Mina’s neck, her senses being lulled by the sweet familiar scent that she greatly misses.

When the song finally ends Jeongyeon whispers into Mina’s ears,

“Is that your song for me?”

“Yes.” Mina confirms almost immediately, although her voice is shaky because Jeongyeon’s breathing is tickling her neck.

“Hon..” Jeongyeon whispers again, the chief detective is now looking down on their intertwined fingers, “Thank you.” 

“For what?”

“For making me appreciate Christmas again...” Jeongyeon then hugs Mina even closer to her, 

“I used to hate December ever since that night but..” She buries her face on Mina’s shoulder and whispers quietly, “Not anymore.. Not anymore that you’re here with me again.”

“I love you, Mina.. I love you so much.”

Mina feels that her sweater is getting wet when Jeongyeon whispers that to her in a muffled voice. 

So she raises her free hand and holds her ex-wife’s head, “You said that I’m your home..” She gently rubs Jeongyeon’s hair and kisses the side of her head, “You’re my home too, yet you’re much more than that.” 

When Jeongyeon sniffles quietly, Mina gently moves so she can face her ex-wife, “You’re my haven. You kept me safe even when you were not with me.” Mina wipes Jeongyeon’s tears, “Honey, you were the only reason why I still chose to wake up every morning.. despite everything.”

Jeongyeon then smiles lopsidedly, a bit shyly. 

Her tears have already stopped and Mina thinks that her ex-wife looks so unbelievably beautiful, as the orange and yellowish hue from the blazing embers in front of them highlighted the chief detective’s soft defining features. 

Mina gently dries the remaining tinge of tears in Jeongyeon’s cheeks. She looks at her ex-wife tenderly for a couple of seconds before she whispers again, her tone soft and loving- 

“Honey, I didn’t put marshmallows on my hot chocolate. Did you notice?”

“But why? You love putting them on your cocoa so much.”

“Because I want to taste them from your lips this time.”

And with a bated breath, Mina finally leans in closer and kisses Jeongyeon. 

Their first kiss after more than three years is all sweet and gentle. Jeongyeon’s lips tastes like Christmas during winter - soft like marshmallows and warm like hot chocolate. 

And when Jeongyeon kisses her back, Mina’s heart flies and dances like the sparkling snowflakes gently falling from the sky outside of their window. 

And after more than three years, as Jeongyeon deepens their kiss and pulls her closer, Mina finally feels that she is truly, completely, safely at home. 

“Can you.. Can you stay for the night?”

Jeongyeon murmurs breathlessly into Mina’s lips after many minutes of them exchanging more kisses- both soft and heated, in front of the burning and crackling fireplace. 

Although she already knows the reason, Mina still asks teasingly, equally breathless,

“Why?” 

“So you can taste more marshmallows.”

The chief detective jokes, and Mina’s giddy laughter sends a hundred butterflies flying inside Jeongyeon’s stomach, as she embraces her ex-wife again for another deep loving passionate kiss.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 05: [Need To Be Next To You by Leigh Nash](https://youtu.be/h9CKzSR4CyI)
> 
> The original audio track is not available on Spotify so please listen to the link above instead if you're curious about the song. It might as well be GND's themesong. :)
> 
>   
> Next Chapter: more Action. more Romance. and Daisy gets territorial, much to Iris' enjoyment. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter! 
> 
> P.S. I hope that you all feel loved this holiday season- be it a familial kind of love, friendship love, romantic love, or even love from our adorable 9 angels that is TWICE. 
> 
> Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all the GND readers! Stay safe and let’s all have a healthy 2021! 🎄💚
> 
>   
> P.P.S. Jeongyeon’s vlive chat. 🥺. It’s one of the best Christmas gifts this year already. 💚
> 
>   
>  **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	6. Track 06: Lovefool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Daisy gets jealous what would Iris do?
> 
> A. Chuckle nervously  
> B. Kiss her frowned lips  
> C. Let Daisy handle it  
> D. All of the above  
> E. None of the above  
>  _(just pray to the gods that she survives)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iris saves the day but she gets a kick from Daisy.

*****

On the 4th day of January, during the first day of classes for the new year, Mina decided to give the KAIST professor a visit - alone.

The university is still relatively quiet at 7AM in the morning. There are only few students roaming around campus as majority of them is still probably in their respective hometowns for the holidays.

Mina knocked gently on the professor’s private faculty room. When she opens the door, she is immediately welcomed by a full bearded man with grayish hair, the side part of it being perfectly combed over, his eyes covered in a pair of full rimmed round silver eyeglasses. 

The professor’s overall demeanor is quiet and somber, yet it exudes authority that demands immediate respect at first glance.

He gives Mina an expected smile as if fully aware that she is going to visit him again- despite the senior detective driving into the university unannounced.

“Happy New Year, Detective Myoui.” 

When Mina just looked at him plainly and didn’t return his greeting, the professor smiles again,

“Have you finally decided on the date of your next university symposium talk?” 

“I didn’t come here to discuss about the symposium, Professor Lee.”

Mina replies in a stern yet curt voice. 

And for 10 straight seconds with barely three meters of distance between them, the professor only looks at her quietly, his gaze undiscerning. 

He starts walking towards Mina and pulls out his brown winter coat from the metal rack by the door, just beside where the senior detective is currently standing.

“Can you accompany me to the garden today, Detective? It’s time for the flowers to be watered now.”

The professor gives her another calculated smile, so Mina didn’t reply anymore. 

Instead, she just follows him quietly as they start walking together outside in the snow-filled side roads, towards the covered university greenhouse, five buildings away from the Faculty Offices.

“I’ve always loved winter. It’s when these jasmines start to bloom.”

The professor says calmly, his back is towards Mina while he carefully waters down the yellow winter jasmines that are now blooming beautifully on one side of the garden.

“Professor..” Mina pauses while she chooses her words. Jeongyeon isn’t here to help her so she needs to be very careful. “Can’t you just let the police handle it?”

The senior detective notices the way the professor’s back stiffens, and then his shoulders slowly moves in an up and down motion when the old man erupted in a short, bursty laughter that’s palpably tinged with disdain and disbelief.

“Do you trust the police, Detective?”

“We’re still a part of it..” Mina clenches her fist inside her coat pocket as she looks at the professor’s back with a softer stare, “We can help you get justice.”

“How can you say that?” The professor now turns around to look at Mina. 

“When you didn’t even get one?”

He meets Mina’s stare with equal softness, but the senior detective recognizes the subtle inner rage hiding beneath his tired old eyes. Mina knows that stare- she can relate to it very well. 

After staring into the professor’s hauntingly relatable eyes for a minute too long, Mina gulps a big chunk of nonexistent air and she feels like she’s being suffocated again. 

The professor seems to notice the sudden shift in her state so he walks towards Mina and gently taps her arm,

“I’m sorry, my dear. But I don’t trust our justice system now.. not anymore.” 

He lets out a small smile, pulls his hand away from Mina’s arm and starts walking towards the yellow jasmine flowers again.

The senior detective lets the professor tend to the yellow flowers with utmost care for a few more minutes before she breaks their silence again.

“We will arrest you.” Mina quietly speaks, her eyes looking sullen at the professor’s back. 

“I just need to gather more evidence.. Then we will arrest you, Professor.”

She hears the labored exhale the old man let out right after. The professor then moves his head in a subtle motion in which Mina can only decipher as a tired nod.

“She admired you, Detective Myoui.. Ever since you made the university talk that year, she’d always admired you. She said she’d follow your footsteps and would be a great detective someday.. I couldn’t even sleep earlier before because of her - always bothering me every night just to teach her.. ”

A short pause ensues before the professor speaks again, his voice now sounding distant, carrying away the heaviness of a painful memory. 

“I’d do anything to get back those sleepless nights again, Detective.”

“I’m sorry about what happened.” 

“I’m sorry about what happened to you too, Detective.”

The professor walks towards Mina closer. He stretches out his hand to give her freshly picked stems of two beautiful flowers. 

Mina quietly accepts it and looks down on the pair of fully bloomed flowers with contrasting colors- 

a yellow winter jasmine, and a pink daisy.

“She said she would have chosen _Jasmine_.”

The professor explains with a tired smile on his wrinkled face, before he finally says his goodbye and starts walking towards the garden exit. 

“You didn’t stop yet, did you?”

Mina calls out when the professor took his fifth step away from her.

“I didn’t.” The professor halts on his tracks and slowly faces Mina again, 

“I just let them enjoy their holidays, Detective.”

*****

On the third week of January, Station Chief Park has slammed her office desk when she received the official directive to fully close their investigation for the ‘ _Hacker case’_. 

Their surrendered _suspect_ has been moved to a different prison, prohibiting the Squad of any further interrogation with him, which only made Jeongyeon more furious. 

It also made Mina more anxious because of the lack of cyber expose for the Mayor ever since his son was freed. Considering her latest _talk_ with the professor and their true suspect’s initial crime pattern, that definitely didn’t sit right for the senior detective.

Still, despite Jihyo not fully agreeing to the official instruction given to them, the Station Chief cannot do much about it because the higher ups eventually have threatened her entire station and everyone in it - in case they trace any unofficial continuation of the investigation. 

And so their confidential case has been quietly swept under the rug for more than a month after the Mayor’s son has been released, without any media coverage at all.

But that only lasted until the beginning of February.

*****

It’s the start of the last month of winter, and it’s snowing heavily outside when Jeongyeon and Mina enter their station together, with the senior detective clinging onto her ex-wife’s arm.

When Jeongyeon stepped inside first after Dahyun has pulled Mina away from her by the entrance for an emergency _query_ \- she didn’t think this day would turn out to be the start of her most challenging ( _and equally thrilling_ ) days of her new year.

And by _challenging_ in the chief detective’s vocabulary means facing her ex-wife’s death glares and passive aggressive series of smiles and shuddering touches.

It all started when she feels an uninvited hug as soon as she’s only three steps away from her own desk – the familiar strong scent of citrus immediately wired Jeongyeon’s mind into an internal panic breakdown.

“My Detective Yoo..” The voice is irritatingly familiar and Jeongyeon tries her best to pull the girl away from her. “Hmmm.. You smell different today..” She even sniffs the chief detective’s neck and Jeongyeon panics even more.

“Reporter Im, w- why are you here?” 

Jeongyeon stammers while quickly scanning the area to check if Mina has already entered the station.

“I miss you, of course.” 

The reporter teases and didn’t let Jeongyeon break away from her hold, “Don’t you miss me as well?”

“Why would I miss you?” 

Jeongyeon replies bluntly, her tone firm and urgent as she continues to scan for any possible hint of Mina within the vicinity.

Nayeon narrowed her eyes after noticing the way Jeongyeon is actively looking around the station, 

“Why do you look so panicky today? You didn’t have enough sleep last night did you? Or did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed again?”

“No she didn’t.” 

Jeongyeon’s panic shoots up to an all-time high when she hears Mina’s voice. Her tone is soft and monotonous, but it made the chief detective hold her breath for five straight seconds.

“Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I mean.” 

Her ex-wife is now standing just a few feet away from them, her arms crossed over her chest, and Mina is giving them a disapproving glare.

The chief detective quickly exerted all her energy to get away from Nayeon’s embrace.

“But I can’t confirm for the amount of sleep though.” 

Mina starts walking towards them in her elegant calculated strides, her piercing glare not tearing away from the reporter. She stops just two steps away from them and shifts her gaze to look at Jeongyeon, a sly smirk now curving up her lips. 

“Was it enough Detective Yoo? Or did I tire you out too much last night?”

Jeongyeon quickly nods repeatedly. Although she’s not too sure which of Mina’s questions she’s actually answered.

Nayeon clears her throat almost immediately and composes herself.

“Detective Myoui. I didn’t know that you are back.”

“I didn’t know that you still hang around our station.”

Nayeon’s face subtly twitches at the snarky remark.

“Well not recently. I haven’t been here for a quite a while and now I kind of regret it.” She walks closer to Mina, trying to match the domineering stance that the senior detective is exuding, 

“Since I just got a tip that Jeongyeon’s team is apparently handling a very confidential and high profile case now.”

“A tip?” The gears in Mina’s brain start turning faster and she subtly sends Jeongyeon an alarming look. The chief detective instantly deduces what it means.

“Yes, a _tip_.” The famous field reporter smiles knowingly while she brings out her recorder and confirms, “..and now I’m here to interview Detective Yoo for an exclusive scoop.”

“There’s no scoop in here, Reporter Im. Unless you want the usual cases of petty thief being arrested then you can stay. ” Jeongyeon replies firmly.

“Alright then I’ll stay.” The stubborn reporter smiles in satisfaction, and Jeongyeon instantly regrets what she just said.

*****

On a professional level, Mina really doesn’t have any issue with the pretty and famous field reporter that is Im Nayeon. She’s a credible and fearless reporter with years of proven integrity and acclaimed experience in the industry.

In an alternate universe, Nayeon and Mina could be the best of friends, since Mina greatly admires the reporter’s guts and passion for her chosen field. And Mina has nothing but respect for powerful, smart and brave women who can also exhibit innate compassion and kindness when needed the most. 

In the other end of spectrum, Nayeon feels the same towards her too.

But this is not an alternate universe. 

So on a personal level - critically acclaimed Field Reporter Im Nayeon has a special ability to infuriate Senior Detective Myoui Mina to the core. 

Because in reality- Mina was the one Jeongyeon has chosen to marry, and Nayeon was Jeongyeon’s overly clingy ex-girlfriend.

First girlfriend. First kiss. First heartbreak. First everything.

And Mina may or may not get jealous easily, and she may or may not get insecure too. 

Senior Detective Myoui Mina is the type who doesn’t really like to share the things she values so dearly- specially when she knows it’s hers already. And most specially when it comes to Jeongyeon.

Mina sometimes thinks it’s her flaw she couldn’t quite get rid of. A _flaw_ which Jeongyeon finds both adorable and _terrifying_ \- depending on the scale of Nayeon’s _attacks_ and Mina’s mood level.

In spite of this, the senior detective is still perfectly capable to be professional and to temporarily set aside her personal feelings when at work. 

But ever since Nayeon has gotten that _tip_ from an undisclosed source, she’s been around their station and consequently around Jeongyeon in the subsequent days that come. 

And the field reporter is not making it any easier to Mina’s already very short and very thin _jealousy self-control thread level._

Im Nayeon did stay. She stayed majority of the time when she’s not pre-occupied with other current affairs happening around the city or the country. 

Im Nayeon did stay. More stubborn and much persistent than Mina can ever remember.

Im Nayeon did stay.

Much to Mina’s annoyance, and to Jeongyeon’s equal shares of amusement and agony.

*****

It’s Wednesday night and the entire Squad just had an exhausting day of investigations and criminal chase when Mina volunteered to buy them drinks before their late dinner. Sana went with her and they make a stopover to a convenience store just two blocks away from their station. 

Mina feels relieved when she opens the store fridge and found two bottles of banana milk in the middle shelf. Jeongyeon’s favorite drink is always sold out in that store so the senior detective considers it her lucky night when she reaches for the drinks.

But as soon as Mina grasps the last bottle to put it in her cart, another hand holds it on the bottom preventing her to fully grab it.

“Sorry, mine.”

A condescending voice irritates Mina’s ears.

“I found it first.”

Mina replies sternly while giving Nayeon a cold smile.

“I grabbed it first.” Nayeon replies to her smirking.

“I found it first. And just because it’s in there unattended doesn’t mean it’s still free for grabs.” Mina quickly snatched the bottle before Nayeon could even react,

“and No, Reporter Im- I grabbed it first.”

Mina walks away confidently with two bottles of banana milk in her cart. If Nayeon still insists otherwise, she has the store’s CCTV footage to prove it.

“Do you really have no stock of that banana milk anymore?” 

Nayeon asks the cashier, her shoulders drooping.

“My niece loves it.. I was about to bring one to her.”

Mina overhears it because aside from the fact that Nayeon’s voice is loud, the reporter is also in front of her in the cashier’s queue.

When she looks down on her cart with two bottles of banana milk on top of it, she feels a pinch of guilt creeping inside her. Mina isn’t heartless, and to be fair, she doesn’t really like banana milk anyway- it’s only Jeongyeon’s favorite. 

But Mina also has a foresight, she’s a detective after all. So before she reacts, she asks the disappointed reporter first, feigning nonchalance-

“Will you really give it to your niece?”

Nayeon looks at her with judging eyes for a few seconds before she replies,

“Yes it’s her favorite. but it’s out of stock now so-”

“Here.” Mina puts one bottle on the cashier’s table. 

“Pay for it now before I change my mind.”

Nayeon looks surprised but she accepted and paid for the drink anyway. And before she exits the store, she turns to look at Mina with mischief in her eyes,

“I’ll let you know if my niece says thanks.”

When Mina and Sana return to their station pantry with convenience store plastic bags in their hands, Nayeon is already sitting beside Dahyun, just across Jeongyeon who looks instantly relieved after seeing her ex-wife by the door.

“I told you it’s not for her niece.” Sana whispers to Mina after noticing the banana milk on the pantry dining table.

It makes Mina’s blood boil but she still looks calm outside when she walks towards their table.

Jeongyeon stands up to meet them and gets the plastic bags from Mina’s hands.

“Thank god you’re here already, we’re starving! Come on let’s eat.”

“Honey.” Mina might have put more emphasis on the term when she finally sits beside Jeongyeon and eyes the bottle on the table. “Are you going to drink that?”

“Oh. I..” Jeongyeon immediately senses trouble from Mina’s tone alone.

“I gave it to her.” Nayeon quickly interjects with a proud smile. 

“Detective Yoo said she’s been craving for it this morning.”

“Hon, you didn’t tell me you have a reporter aunt?”

“I do?” Jeongyeon just looks at her ex-wife confused and Sana snorted loudly.

“Oh you don’t?” Mina smiles knowingly, “If that’s the case then- ”

Mina pulls out her own banana milk from the plastic bag and puts it beside Jeongyeon’s meal,

“Drink this instead. ” 

She huffs at the other bottle and slides it closer to the reporter,

“That one looks expired.”

“Of course hon, I’ll drink the one you bought first!” 

Jeongyeon giddily accepted Mina’s drink.

“First?” 

“I’ll drink yours only.”

Jeongyeon replies in a flash after seeing the spark in Mina’s glare.

And just as the chief detective is about to pierce the straw on the drink’s lid, Nayeon blurts out in a voice loud enough to startle Dahyun, and the rookie detective dropped the piece of pork she’s currently shoving in her mouth.

“WAIT!” Nayeon snatches the drink from Jeongyeon’s hand. 

“If my bottle is expired, then it means this one’s too...” She raises the drink and reads the bottle’s label.

And Mina watches in horror when Nayeon quickly shuffles the two bottles in the table while pretending to alternately check each drink for the expiration dates. It all happens so swiftly that Nayeon might as well be a part-time magician during her free time.

“There!” The reporter slams the two bottles in front of Jeongyeon after one grueling minute of shuffling them. 

“Both are safe. You can drink it now.”

The chief detective stares down at the identical bottles like a fallen soldier. 

She gulps nervously and looks at Mina, “You know what honey, I realized I really am not craving for banana milk anymore.” 

“You don’t know which one Mina bought?” Nayeon raises her eyebrow.

“I thought people in relationships have some kind of mental telepathy so they can easily identify anything related to their partners.”

The reporter then looks at Mina with a taunting smile, silently luring her in for a challenge.

“But if you’re having a hard time choosing now, maybe your relationship isn’t that established yet.”

Mina hates it. She hates how Nayeon always knows how to push her buttons at the exact same spot that would easily provoke her to fall into her tricks.

“Go on honey. Choose one.”

Jeongyeon looks at Mina with an expression that says- _Are you really serious?_

It’s easy for Mina to identify which one of the bottles is hers because she has a photographic memory- she instantly notices the very small and vague smudge on the side of her purchased banana milk.

She has the same confidence that Jeongyeon can pull it through- after all, they were married for years. 

Mina prides herself with that fact alone. Surely Jeongyeon can tell where her banana milk is, right? **_Right?_**

Still, just to be sure, Mina kisses her ex-wife’s left cheek- both to reassure Jeongyeon and to irk Nayeon more. “You can do it, hon.”

She silently hopes Jeongyeon gets her clue.

Jeongyeon didn’t get Mina’s clue. 

And so the couple is now sitting inside Jeongyeon’s car, the engine’s still off while the chief detective is trying to woo her sulking ex-wife after what happened during their dinner earlier.

“I’m sleeping in my apartment tonight.” 

Mina reiterates for the third time that night, after Jeongyeon asks her again of her decision.

“Hon, please..”

“I can’t believe you didn’t get my clue.”

“I panicked, ok?” Jeongyeon sighs tiredly. 

“Are we really gonna fight just because of a damn banana milk?”

Mina didn’t reply. Irritation is still visible on her face because she feels like she just _lost_ to Nayeon.

Jeongyeon looks at her ex-wife’s side profile and waits for her reply. When Mina still stays silent for the next couple of minutes, she finally starts the engine and drives to her ex-wife’s apartment.

Their entire drive was all quiet except for the loud exhales that Jeongyeon let out every five minutes. 

“We’re here now..” Jeongyeon confirms once they’ve reached the front of Mina’s building. “Do you want me to accompany you to your floor or-”

“I’m sorry..” Mina is now looking at her apologetically. She reaches out for Jeongyeon’s hand and kisses her knuckles. “I’m sorry, hon.”

“What are you sorry for?” Jeongyeon questions Mina with an understanding stare.

“I shouldn’t have let Nayeon’s tricks get in my head. It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry.”

Mina is looking at her guiltily so Jeongyeon inches closer and cradles her face.

“Hon, she can have all the banana milk in the world for all I care.” She gently runs her thumb on Mina’s cheeks and smiles tenderly. “..but only you can have me. You’re the one that I will always choose, please always remember that.”

Mina suddenly feels like she’s undeserving of Jeongyeon’s unbounded love again.

She finds herself speechless so instead of replying, she hungrily pulls Jeongyeon closer to her and kisses her deeply. She laces all her apologies and guilt into her kiss, and Jeongyeon kisses her back with equal intensity to tell Mina that she’s already forgiven.

“So..” Jeongyeon catches her breath. “..are you really going to sleep in your apartment tonight?” 

“Well.. we’re here now and..” Mina whispers into her lips, equally breathless.

“Just come with me. I feel like my sorry still isn’t enough. ”

Jeongyeon smirks, both excitement and anticipation now pooling in her stomach.

“Alright.. apologize to me all night, then.”

“Don’t worry, honey. I will.”

And that night, for the first time after they got reunited again, Jeongyeon and Mina had their first petty lover’s fight. 

Also that night, for the first time after they got reunited again, Jeongyeon and Mina had their first make-up kisses.. and make-up cuddles.. and bite marks… and well..

Jeongyeon realizes she misses that kind of _night_ s. Nights when Mina was mad and then eventually proves to her how sorry she really was. 

It was great. That night was great. 

Jeongyeon likes it when Mina was mad and guilty. She bites more.

*****

On the second week of February, three mornings before Valentines day, Nayeon is at the station again.

And that same morning, Mina received an encrypted riddle in her laptop which she quickly decoded a minute after reading it.

The chief detective then immediately summoned Jihyo and her Elite Squad to formulate an urgent critical rescue operation after Mina has told her about the message.

And an hour after that, when Jeongyeon and her team runs outside to start their impromptu rescue operation – a breaking news that the Mayor of Seoul is kidnapped is flashed in every computer screen and television across the entire country.

*****

Jeongyeon and Sana are now aboard an express passenger train. Dahyun is intercepting any possible leaks online to avoid public fear mongering. While Jihyo is starting to stealthily mobilize the others for the last stage of their mission.

Meanwhile, Mina is assigned the most sensitive task of all- hacking the train system controls.

The hacker’s encrypted message earlier specified that he’s going to personally shoot and kill the captured Seoul Mayor inside the economy cabin of an express train - in front of all the other public passengers.

But their rescue plan was ruined as soon as Jeongyeon and Sana stepped inside the said cabin with not a single passenger nor the Mayor in sight. All empty.

“Shit.” Mina quickly curses on their comms after finding out what happened. “He tricked us.”

“Iris, go back to the opposite end now!”

“What happened?” Jeongyeon asked confused but immediately followed Mina’s instructions nonetheless. Sana is trailing her just three metres away.

“The Mayor is on another train.. and shit!” Mina’s eyes widened after finally accessing the live CCTV footage of the actual train where the Mayor is being held. “There’s a time-bomb attached to the Mayor.”

The entire Elite Squad freezes for a moment. But Jeongyeon quickly regains her composure and asks Mina calmly,

“How many minutes?”

“Less than ten minutes now.”

“So Daisy, what’s our back up plan?”

Mina is now typing and monitoring everything again at a frantic speed like a robot. She quickly rerouted every train on different lines to adjust for their new plan and avoid any possible collision and casualties. 

“The hacker is not letting me control the correct train where the Mayor’s at, except for one door. And the train can’t be stopped now. It’s also running on a faster speed.”

Her heart is now beating faster for she knows it’s only Jeongyeon who can save them – the chief detective is the only bomb expert in their squad. 

Mina recalculates everything and confirms again the exact time when the two trains will meet just to be safe- she can’t risk Jeongyeon’s life now.

“Iris, I need you to jump over and transfer between the moving trains on my mark.”

“Copy Daisy, got it.”

Jeongyeon confirms instantaneously, firmly. It pains Mina how Jeongyeon so easily trusts her with all her life.

“Daisy.” 

“Yes, Iris.”

“I trust you.”

Jeongyeon whispers into their comms while looking up to one of the train CCTVs, smiling.

Mina smiles back, although Jeongyeon can’t see her.

And it’s the only needed push for Mina to trust herself more as she begins to instruct the team about her new back-up plan.

“Iris, go to the second from the last cabin on the other end. Just 5 cabins away from where you and Lily are currently at. Then stand on that cabin’s left door and wait for my signal. I will open the left door 10 seconds before I give you the signal to jump.”

“Copy Daisy.”

“Iris, you have to be quick. The two doors would only be facing each other for a second.”

Jeongyeon snickers cockily, “One second is such a long time.”

“Iris, be careful.” / “Boss, you can do it!”

Sana and Dahyun both speak simultaneously.

“Alright team! Pizza on me la-”

Someone jumps on Jeongyeon when she’s only two cabins away from their target door. 

Sana quickly helped but the man pulled out a gun and aimed at her. Jeongyeon then redirects his arm to shoot it on the train roof instead. 

But the commotion they created has already caused an immediate panic to the passengers and people are now running in different directions to hide.

“Iris, 30 seconds!” Mina speaks into the comms urgently.

“Iris, I got it!” Sana yells. But the chief detective still helps the profiler in tackling the man and they swiftly handcuff his hands on the train rail.

“20 seconds! IRIS!” Mina is now panicking.

“Iris, go!” Sana shouts at her leader.

Jeongyeon quickly runs towards their designated cabin while announcing at the blockade of panicking passengers in front of her.

“Everybody give way please. I’m about to do a cool stunt today. Thank you!”

“10 seconds! The left door is now open!”

Jeongyeon runs as fast as she could.

“5 seconds!”

Both train doors are now open but Jeongyeon is still a few meters away from the cabin door.

Mina’s heart is beating abnormally fast while monitoring both speeding trains and her running ex-wife inside one of them. 

“GO!”

Mina holds her breath when she finally gave the signal. 

And everything seems to warp around her when she loses sight of Jeongyeon - _Oh god please._

The senior detective quickly adjusts her monitor to zoom into the other train’s CCTVs and tries to check for any sign of her ex-wife but

“Iris! Where are you?? Can you hear me?”

No response.

“IRIS!!!” 

Mina feels like she’s about to cry,

“IRIS ANSWER ME!”

Still no response.

Mina's really going to cry now

"IRIS!!"

A grunt. 

Then Jeongyeon slowly stands up and Mina sees her appearing behind a row of seats.

“Daisy, stop missing me too much.”

“Oh god, I hate you.” 

“No you don’t” Jeongyeon winks at the train CCTV, “You love me.”

“I aspire to have your flirting ability in the middle of the mission, Iris.”

“Good goal you have there, Lily.”

“Iris, may I remind you that there’s a bomb waiting for you to detonate and there’s only less than 3 minutes left or everyone in the train will blow up like a volcano.” Mina speaks so much faster in urgency.

“Oh right the bomb.. tsk.” Jeongyeon shakes her head while she runs towards the Mayor, 

“I almost forgot because Daisy keeps distracting me.”

“I what now?!”

“You keep messing with my head.”

Sana and Dahyun laugh loudly in the comms while Mina’s mouth turns agape in disbelief.

“Boss teach me your ways!” Dahyun exclaims teasingly.

“Later, Kid.”

Needless to say, Jeongyeon successfully detonated the ticking time bomb without a sweat because well- she’s IRIS, the bomb and explosives expert of the SMPA’s Elite Squad.

And the Mayor including everyone else in the train eventually went home safely, alive and unscathed that day.

Well.. all except for one cocky detective. 

“Ouch! What’s that for?” 

Jeongyeon whines after Mina kicks her leg when they finally get back to the station. 

“You scared me there. Why didn’t you answer immediately?? I thought I.. I-”

Mina couldn’t continue her sentence anymore.

Jeongyeon walks closer to her ex-wife and hugs Mina tight.

“Honey..” She caresses Mina’s hair gently. “Do you even know how powerful your kick is?”

Mina sniffles, “..does it really hurt?”

“You’re a black belter, hon.”

“I’m sorry..”

“I need a kiss now.”

“Okay.”

*****

****

_“You shouldn’t have saved him. He doesn’t deserve to live.”_

Mina has been looking at the encrypted message on her laptop screen for five minutes now. 

It’s already been a day since they rescued the Mayor of Seoul and things have been quite chaotic in the Station since then. Mainly because the case is already out in the open because of Nayeon’s exclusive coverage.

“Is it him again?” Jihyo sits beside her after noticing the message on Mina’s laptop.

Mina immediately closes the tab before anyone else can see it. 

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Don’t you still have enough evidence for him?”

“Not yet, Ji. He’s one tough cookie. He’s great at cleaning up his trails.”

Jihyo sighs loudly. “Anyway, the Mayor is inviting the Squad for a dinner tonight. He says it’s to thank us, but I doubt. Are you game?”

Mina huffs annoyed. “You know the answer to that, Ji.”

Jihyo then grins widely. “Figures. How about we go to Handong’s bar instead? My treat tonight.”

“Unlimited fries?”

“Unlimited fries.” Jihyo confirms with a smirk and Mina smiles at her gummily.

*****

So later that night, the entire Elite Squad including the Station Chief went into Handong’s bar to celebrate their successful mission.

Since it’s also an open mic that night, Jihyo and Mina has tricked Jeongyeon again to perform another song.

Jeongyeon performs the bonus track in their playlist, and Mina feels like a giddy teenager while her ex-wife serenades her again in front of all the people in the bar.

But just when Jeongyeon is about to step down from the stage after her performance, Nayeon goes up and appears like a sudden apparition that Mina has to blink twice to confirm if she’s seeing the real thing.

_She’s here?? -_ Mina internally mutters while trying to catch her ex-wife’s eyes.

“Hold up there, Detective.” Nayeon pulls Jeongyeon swiftly and locks her arm around the chief detective’s. “I’m pretty sure they want to hear your voice again.” 

She faces the audience and asks energetically through her mic, like a lively host in a party- 

“Girls, do you want to hear more from your charming singing Detective?”

_YES!!! We want an encore!!_ \- The girls in the audience all scream and whistle.

Nayeon stares back at Jeongyeon, “You hear that, Yoo. They want an encore.”

The smirk in the reporter’s lips looks like trouble so Jeongyeon tries to find Mina in the audience and to her surprise- Mina looks calm and collected.

Jeongyeon tries to get away from Nayeon, she doesn’t want to make Mina mad again but then the screams in the audience get louder and their faces are all expectant than ever before-

_ENCORE!! ENCORE!! ENCORE!!_

It is then that Jeongyeon notices that Mina is nodding and smiling at her- giving her ex-wife a silent approval. 

It’s a look that says – _Go on, honey. Just give them one more song, then let’s go home right after._

Jeongyeon sighs and internally thinks. 

_"Fine. Just one song and I’m out. Surely, another song won’t harm, right?”_

“Alright, we’re performing a duet then!”

“A duet??!!” Jeongyeon whips her head to Nayeon out of pure shock.

“Yes, my charming Detective Yoo.” Nayeon runs her finger along Jeongyeon’s jawline and the chief detective tries to subtly evade it, 

“We’re singing together.”

Mina is already fuming internally from afar. But she’s not backing down tonight. 

Whatever it is that Nayeon is planning, she’s gonna _WIN_ this time.

But then the music starts and when Mina recognizes the song, she gathers all of her self-control to not run into the stage and grab her ex-wife from the infuriating field reporter. 

_How dare that woman?! It’s a song in our playlist!_

When the instrumental backtrack of Lovefool begins to play, Nayeon grabs Jeongyeon by the shoulder and sings the first verse flirtatiously-

_Dear, I fear we're facing a problem_

_You love me no longer, I know and_

_maybe there is nothing that I can do_

_to make you do_

Jeongyeon gently removes Nayeon’s hold on her and walks a few steps further into the front of the stage. She looks at Mina in the audience when she sings the next verse-

_Mama tells me I shouldn't bother_

_That I ought to stick to another girl_

_A girl that surely deserves me_

_But I think you do_

But when the chorus starts, Nayeon backhugs her unexpectedly.

The surprisingly bold gesture earns some whines from the audience. 

Mina clenches her jaw, steals the margarita from Sana’s hand and downs it in one shot.

The field reporter sings the chorus over Jeongyeon’s shoulder, and the chief detective is having a hard time breaking away from her because Nayeon is pressing herself even closer.

_So I cry and I beg for you to_

_Love me love me, Say that you love me_

_Fool me fool me, Go on and fool me_

_Love me love me_

_Pretend that you love me_

_Leave me leave me_

_Just say that you need me_

Mina thinks she’s had enough. 

She returns back Sana’s now empty margarita glass and elegantly strides towards the stage with a determined mission she has no intention to lose from.

When Jeongyeon sees that her ex-wife is already walking towards them, she gently but firmly tries her best to break away from Nayeon’s hold.

And when she finally does, Mina is already on the stage and pulling her closer by the waist while she seductively sings the next verse to Jeongyeon-

_Lately I have desperately pondered_

_Spent my nights awake and I wonder_

_What I could have done in another way_

_To make you stay_

The instant relief and wide grin that washed over Jeongyeon’s face is priceless when Mina embraces her ex-wife in front of everybody else.

Jeongyeon then pulls Mina closer to her- 

_So, I cry and I beg for you to_

and by each other’s embrace, they alternately sing the chorus together-

_Love me love me, Say that you love me_

Mina snakes her arm around Jeongyeon’s neck

_Fool me fool me, Go on and fool me_

Jeongyeon sings teasingly and presses her forehead against Mina’s

_Love me love me, Pretend that you love me_

Mina smirks seductively and tugs Jeongyeon closer, their lips almost touching

_I can't care 'bout anything but you~_

They flirt and sway their bodies in the stage during the remaining duration of the song, one can might as well hear Jihyo’s tradeful remark to her favorite lovefool couple-

_Get a room!!_

Once the song is finally finished, another girl went up the stage demanding for her own duet with the charming chief detective.

But Mina graciously interrupted her and announced to the audience in a calm yet relentless tone-

“No more encore tonight, girls. Detective Yoo is already taken.” 

She sends Nayeon one last threatening glare- 

“Taken by me.” 

Then she grabs Jeongyeon by her jacket and kisses her ex-wife passionately, daringly in front of the entire audience in the bar.

A collective gasp is heard from the majority of girls inside but it was immediately drowned by the loud cheers of Jihyo, Sana, Dahyun and Handong.

When Mina finally pulls away from their kiss, Jeongyeon instantly misses the taste of peach and tequila on Mina’s tongue so the chief detective tugs her ex-wife again and kisses her deeply.

*****

After a few more rounds of drinks and fun banters at the bar, the Squad has finally decided to call it the night.

When the Station Chief is already walking towards her own car, she notices that Dahyun is emerging from the exit door, and is struggling to accompany a drunken Sana along.

“I thought you guys are staying longer. Wait, let me help you.” 

Jihyo carefully offers after walking towards them.

Dahyun just smiles shyly. “Thanks Chief Park, sorry to bother you.”

“It’s not a bother to me, don’t worry.” 

Jihyo replies while she gently puts Sana’s other arm on her shoulder. 

The Station Chief then senses the awkwardness in the air while they accompany Sana to Dahyun’s car.

“Are you afraid of me, Dahyun-ah?”

Dahyun is startled after hearing the Station Chief call her by her first name.

“I-.. I.. a little Chief Park..”

Jihyo huffs, “Don’t be.” 

She looks at Dahyun somberly, “I’m just like you, actually.”

Dahyun’s brows furrowed a bit, unsure of what to make about Jihyo’s words.

When they reached the rookie detective’s car and has successfully aided Sana inside, Jihyo pats Dahyun’s shoulder, 

“Next time don’t let her drink too much. Sana is a lightweight. Don’t let her drink more than two glasses of liquor or she’ll be like that.. or worse. Just offer her food if she insists.”

Dahyun nods, “Thanks Chief Park, I didn’t know that.”

Jihyo smiles sincerely, “Just take care of her, Dahyun-ah.”

“I will. Thank you, Chief Park.”

When Dahyun bids her goodbye, Jihyo looks at the moving vehicle with sad eyes. 

She suddenly recalls the lyrics to Jeongyeon and Mina’s song earlier, and all she can do is to just chuckle quietly and shake her head as she makes her way back to her own car.

But Jihyo is only just a few steps away when she notices a familiar figure quietly smoking by the covered corner of the parking lot. Before she can even stop herself, Jihyo is already walking towards that dimly lit corner.

*****

“You do know they are back together, right?” 

Jihyo speaks firmly five seconds after standing alongside the smoking field reporter.

Nayeon huffs and replies matter-of-factly, “Of course.”

“Why did you still do it?”

“It’s just my way to get my little revenge.”

“Revenge?”

Nayeon puffs some smoke and replies again.

“She left Jeongyeon before. Detective Yoo was such a mess when they divorced.”

“She has her reasons.” Jihyo tries to defend her friend.

Nayeon looks at her like she’s judging the Station Chief.

“I don’t care about her reasons. She left Jeongyeon on the side and I almost picked up all the broken pieces, you know.” The field reporter puffs more smoke and lets out a bitter laugh.

“I could have picked up the pieces if only Jeongyeon has let me. But.. But she loves her wife so damn much I didn’t even have a tiny bit of a chance to heal her.”

“You also left her before, Reporter Im.”

“I did.” Nayeon exhales a thick chunk of smoke when she laughs, “I did and that’s one of my biggest regrets in my life.”

A long moment of silence ensues before Nayeon speaks again.

“When I found out that they’re back together, I was adamant about Mina’s intention.”

“Mina’s love for Jeongyeon is one of the most genuine kinds I have ever known.”

Jihyo replies to the field reporter firmly, as if she’s stating one of the truest facts of the world.

But Nayeon just looks at her with the same judging eyes.

“Well we’re not close so I want to find that out by myself.”

“In your own twisted ways.” Jihyo snickers also looking at Nayeon judgingly.

Nayeon didn’t mind the harsh remark, “If you want to call it that then be my guest. I just want to make sure she won’t hurt Jeongyeon again.”

“She won’t.”

“She better be.” Nayeon throws her cigarette butt and opens her pack to smoke another one. She looks at Jihyo and offers one stick.

“No, thanks. I don’t smoke.” Jihyo respectfully declines the offer.

“Why are you here outside in the cold then if you don’t even smoke?”

“I figure you might need some company, you look so lonely smoking here all by yourself.” 

Jihyo replies with a hint of teasing in her tone.

But Nayeon just smiles at her disbelievingly not entirely buying her excuse,

“What a good samaritan you are, Chief Park.”

And for the next couple of minutes, the two just stood there quietly in the cold while Nayeon continues to exhale dark gray clouds of cigarette smoke.

She then notices that the Station Chief is just lightly kicking some snow on the ground.

“You know whatever it is that’s bothering you, Park.. she loves you too.”

Jihyo instantly chuckles and shakes her head after hearing that. She lightly kicks another chunk of snow, “Actually..” She raises her head and looks at Nayeon. “She doesn’t.”

Nayeon narrowed her eyes at Jihyo for a moment. But then she notices that same familiar ache in the Station Chief’s stare so the field reporter smiles sincerely and replies to her,

“Then that makes the two of us.”

And then both ladies laugh loudly and continue to make some small talks afterwards. They talk until Nayeon burns her last piece of cigarette, and Jihyo nearly cleans her area from some piles of snow.

*****

Jeongyeon wakes up at 3AM in the morning because of a phone call from an unknown number. 

She hurriedly walks to their kitchen to not wake up her sleeping ex-wife in the bed. But the ringing suddenly stopped when she’s about to answer it.

She then receives a text message from the same unknown number. Jeongyeon frowns when she reads it:

_“You shouldn’t have saved him, Detective Yoo. He doesn’t deserve to live.”_

Another message:

_“I’ll prove it to you.”_

A video message:

Jeongyeon contemplated if she should play it. But then the thumbnail is Mina so she gets curious.

So Jeongyeon presses the play button.

And then her world suddenly stopped. 

A dizzy headache. 

Everything around her is suddenly turning chaotically. Blurring all at once.

Then it feels like someone has grabbed her heart and crushed it. 

She can’t breathe, and when she looks at the hallway towards their bedroom, she fights all the urge to run to her ex-wife.

When she composes herself again, Jeongyeon grits her teeth and drives away. She needs answers.

But she’ll just find it out tonight from the other person in the video.

Series of loud urgent knocks has awakened Jihyo from her sleep. 

“Who the hell..” She mutters half asleep as she makes her way into her door.

Jihyo opens the door irritated, eyes still half-shut because of her interrupted sleep.

“What is this?!” A bothered Jeongyeon demands to her as soon as she opens the door.

“What?” Jihyo squints at the phone while she adjusts her drowsy eyes. Then a panic immediately kicks in after realizing what footage is playing on Jeongyeon’s phone.

“Can you explain what is that?”

“Jeong, I -”

“What is it PARK JIHYO!!”

Jeongyeon rarely addresses her by her full name. 

The chief detective also rarely raises her voice at her. Jeongyeon respects Jihyo so much, both as her best friend and her work superior. 

And despite Jihyo being the younger one between them, the Station Chief rarely addresses the chief detective by that respectful term.

But now, as Jeongyeon stands in front of her looking both pained and raging, all Jihyo can only reply is-

“Unnie..”

As tears start to slide down from Jeongyeon’s angered eyes.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 06: Lovefool by The Cardigans
> 
> Next Chapter: we'll finally get to know the real reason of JeongMi's divorce.  
>   
>    
> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I love reading your comments!
> 
> Happy New Year!! 
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	7. Track 07: Only Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real reason of JeongMi's divorce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per the result of my twitter poll, I will be publishing Track 08 asap to compensate for this chapter.

~~~

_There's a song that's inside_

_of my soul_

_It's the one that I've tried_

_to write over_

_and over again_

~~~

*****

**Winter. December 2017.**

It’s the first day of December, and Mina is humming along to _A Thousand Miles_ playing softly inside her car. 

Being excited is an understatement for the Senior Detective while she carefully navigates through the snowy white roads of Gyeongsang. She giddily bops her head and sway along to Vanessa Carlton’s addicting chorus. 

Despite the dull unclear skies above her and the freezing weather outside - Mina is just in an extremely good cheery mood today. She plays a soft melodic whistle in sync with Track 02’s piano instrumental riff when she makes her left turn to the last street on her gps map -

Mina is finally going to see her wife today.

It’s been two weeks since the married couple has last seen each other. Due to the Chief Detective’s expertise, Jeongyeon is assigned another confidential case. This entails for her to look over a highly valuable key witness, who is being protected in their secluded private safe house in Gyeongsang province.

Ever since the start of autumn, Jeongyeon and Mina rarely see each other because of the nature of the current cases assigned to them. But today is the first day of December and Mina just can’t pass the chance to finally see her wife. 

No- Mina has to use her limited and elusive free time now just to be with her wife. Even though it means that she has to drive back to Seoul again first thing in the morning.

She misses her wife so much. And when she glances on her rearview mirror to look on the small pine tree that is firmly buckled up in the back seat, Mina’s eyes spark with more excitement. 

It’s December. Mina is finally going to see Jeongyeon again. And she’s going to cook steaming beef stew for her wife and decorate their little Christmas tree together. 

It’s December and it’s the first day of winter. 

Mina is finally going to embrace Jeongyeon again. And she’s going to brew their favorite hot cocoa after dinner, then kiss under a mistletoe later. Just like they always do.

*****

The splitting smile that flashes across Jeongyeon’s face when she finally sees Mina standing perkily outside their safe house’s white covered porch is so bright and wide, but it’s nothing compared to how she runs to her wife and envelops her into a warm tight hug.

“I can’t believe you’re here! When did you arrive?” Jeongyeon’s giddy voice is muffled into Mina’s cold hair while she inhales her wife’s sweet jasmine scent.

She’s hugging her wife and smelling her scent now – it feels like home again.

“Just now.” Mina slightly leans away but her arms are still around Jeongyeon’s waist when she looks up and stares at her wife, “I wanted to surprise you. Did it work?”

The Chief Detective stares at her wife adoringly, and she slowly turns their position around so it is Jeongyeon who’s now facing the snowy side of the porch. She slightly tilts her head and cheekily grins at Mina, a white cold fog comes out from her mouth when she speaks-

“You wanna know my answer?”

Mina nods expectantly. Her eyes are adorably smiling but they instantly flutter close when Jeongyeon starts to lean closer and captures her lips. Jeongyeon kisses her softly, sweetly, and Mina quickly melts into their kiss. 

Jeongyeon pulls away and points a finger on her wife’s reddening nose,

“There. That’s my answer.” 

Mina’s eyes shifted to that of a cute puppy’s eyes trying to beg for their owner’s attention when she pouts to Jeongyeon and softly mumbles,

“I’ve missed you so much, hon.”

Jeongyeon cutely mimics her wife's pout too,

“I miss you more, honey. Thanks for coming today.”

Mina’s eyes crinkled with happiness and she’s about to be the one leaning in this time when-

“Unnie…”

Their sweet moment is interrupted when Yeji, their eight-year-old eyewitness shyly pulls part of Mina’s long sweater. “..are you staying tonight, unnie?”

Mina crouches down and gently pats the little girl’s head,

“Yes, Yeji. I’m staying tonight.”

Both Jeongyeon and Yeji smile wider after hearing it.

“Have you decorated a Christmas tree before, Yeji-yah?”

When Yeji shakes her head, Mina smiles gummily and ruffles the little girl’s hair,

“Good. You get to put the star on the tree later, then.”

Yeji nods excitedly and her mouth opens into a hopeful wide smile, now showing a cute set of her small milk teeth.

Ever since Jeongyeon is assigned to Yeji’s case, Mina makes it a point to take care of the child witness too every time she visits the safe house. Mina is aware how her wife feels very protective of the little girl specially knowing what Yeji has gone through.

Because Jeongyeon adores Yeji so much, Mina also showers the little girl with the same affection whenever she gets the chance to be with the young witness. And that day was not an exemption.

They spent the rest of the day indulging Yeji with funny stories, while the three of them bonded over while decorating the small pine tree that Mina brought along. 

Jeongyeon took care and helped Yeji throughout the entire process of decorating the tree. From swirling the lights around it, to hanging the Christmas balls on its leaves, up to putting the star on top of it.

When Jeongyeon turns on the lights and the kid’s innocent eyes shine brighter with delight and wonders, Mina’s heart instantly feels warmer at the sight. 

She notices the way Jeongyeon’s lips curve up into a fond satisfied smile when Yeji runs into the chief detective and hugs her tight. 

Jeongyeon carries and lifts the little girl up, and Mina leans her head on her wife’s shoulder. 

The three of them stands quietly for a few contented moments, while Yeji admires the colorful blinking Christmas lights dancing around their completed Christmas tree.

“Hon.. do you want to have kids?”

Mina asks her wife in a hushed tone. 

They are now lying in the bed with Yeji in between them already sleeping soundly. The little girl is hugging Jeongyeon while the chief detective slowly turns on her side to face her wife.

“What makes you ask that?”

“Just a feeling.. I think you’ll make a very good mother. You’re very caring, honey. Kids love you.”

Mina’s eyes shift to point at the sleeping little girl sandwiched between them.

Jeongyeon sincerely smiles at her wife’s affectionate words,

“I’ve honestly thought about it before but.. I don’t think we can afford to have one now. We barely even see each other nowadays, let alone have kids. I don’t want our kids to grow up with their nannies most of the time if ever. I want us to personally take care of them. But our work..”

Mina sighs sadly, knowing full well how hard it is to raise kids in the middle of their dangerous line of work, “Yeah, I know..” 

Jeongyeon then reaches over and caresses her wife’s hair.

“I think you’ll make a lovely mother too, hon.” 

Mina smiles tenderly. She holds Jeongyeon’s backhand into her lips and kisses it softly.

“Speaking of,” Jeongyeon adds quietly, “how’s our newly promoted Station Chief?”

The mood shifts lightly at the mention of their best friend. Mina snickers when she responds,

“Having a severe headache every day. You know how stubborn Ji can be.”

“Of course I know.” Jeongyeon huffs and teases. “Is she still picking up fights with the General?”

“Always. I can’t count how many clashes she’s had with the General in this month alone.. You know how ideal and principled Ji is. She’s been ranting on me how it disgusts her to finally have a real view up there..”

Mina shakes her head, her expression shifts with a hint of dismay while remembering Jihyo’s rants about their police system, “I just.. I just worry about her sometimes, hon.”

“but Ji’s still ok, right?” Jeongyeon asks worriedly.

“Yes, so far she hasn’t been demoted yet.” 

Mina tries to joke while putting Jeongyeon’s warm palm on her cold cheek.

Jeongyeon smiles at Mina’s gesture, “It’ll really be funny if- ”

But she wasn’t able to complete her sentence anymore when blaring sounds of three consecutive gunshots have disrupted their quiet peaceful evening.

“What was that?”

Mina whispered anxiously, she and Jeongyeon have quickly bolted up from the bed.

The two detectives immediately get their guns, and Mina hides the startled Yeji with her behind a shelf. 

Jeongyeon stealthily walks behind the bedroom door and whispers into their comms,

“Detective Choi. Do you copy? Can you hear me?”

But instead of a response from the other detective manning the safe house with her, another set of multiple gunshots are heard and Mina tries her best to cover Yeji’s ears. 

The little girl is now trembling, her state visibly frightened.

“unnie..I’m scared..”

“Don’t worry Yeji-yah, unnie’s here. We’ll protect you.”

Mina embraces the girl tighter.

“Hon, I’m going to check on Detective Choi outside. Just stay here with Yeji.”

“Ok. Be safe please.”

When Jeongyeon finally exits the room, it gets quiet again and Mina tries her best to comfort the scared little girl. After a few minutes of silence and still no update from her wife, Yeji’s state gets a bit stable. The little girl then pulls away from Mina’s hug to look at the detective.

Mina stares back into Yeji’s eyes reassuringly, like a protective mother-

“Don’t worry Yeji-yah, your Jeongyeon-unnie and I are here to protect you.”

Yeji nods, her eyes are now slightly calmer- reflecting that she believes Mina’s words. 

So the senior detective smiles and hugs Yeji again - making Mina unaware on how the young girl’s eyes glaringly shifted into a look filled with extreme terror, when a daunting figure emerged from the darkness behind them.

It all happens so swiftly that Mina didn’t even have a chance to react when a handkerchief is forcefully put on her face- and the last thing that she hears is Yeji’s muffled cries, before everything went into a complete total darkness.

“Jeongyeon-unnie… _*sniffs*_ …. unnie...” 

Jeongyeon is surprised to hear Yeji’s voice in their comms.

“Yeji?”

“..Mina-unnie..”

Jeongyeon hurriedly runs back to the room and finds a trembling Yeji curled-up in a dark corner. 

“What happened? where’s your Mina-unnie?”

Yeji didn’t respond but just gave her a ripped paper instead with a note –

_“Your wife is on the rooftop.”_

“Who gave this to you?”

“I don’t know unnie.. he doesn’t have a face. I only saw his eyes.”

Jeongyeon then stealthily transfers Yeji to another smaller room,

“Just stay here, Yeji-yah. I’ll come back later. Don’t open the door unless it’s me, ok?”

“Unnie.. I’m scared..”

Jeongyeon holds both of the little girl’s cheeks reassuringly. 

“Don’t worry. Remember: Jeongyeon-unnie is always here to protect you, right? Just wait for me here, ok?”

Yeji weakly smiles at her and nods, the little girl always believes her Jeongyeon unnie’s words.

Jeongyeon gives Yeji another reassuring hug before she securely locks the room and runs a flight of stairs towards the safe house’s rooftop.

When she finally gets to the open space, it’s lightly snowing outside and Jeongyeon sees her wife tied up on the far end corner of the huge rooftop. Mina is unconscious, her head lying low, and a huge ticking time bomb is attached to her chest. The clock flashes 59 seconds and counting down..

Jeongyeon didn’t waste any more time and runs towards her wife-

“DETECTIVE YOO!!!”

She abruptly stops halfway and quickly turns around – a masked man all dressed in black is now carrying Yeji beside the rooftop door. He has a gun that’s pointed towards the little girl.

When Jeongyeon tries to lift her gun, the man presses the weapon harder to the child’s head.

“Unnie!! I’m scared!” Yeji cries to her.

Jeongyeon tries to aim but the kid is moving frantically in front of the man so she can’t get a good shot.

“Who would you like to save now Detective?” 

His sinister voice echoes throughout the area.

Jeongyeon then remembers her wife- she looks at Mina’s clock again: 36 sec.. 34 secs..

“Unnie! Help me!! Jeongyeon-unnie will protect me!”

The chief detective whips her head towards Yeji- the little girl looks scared and she’s pleading at Jeongyeon.

Yeji’s loud cry for help has awakened Mina up. Her tied hands are freezing and the first thing that she sees when she opens her eyes is Jeongyeon’s back. Her wife is standing a few meters away from her and looking somewhere towards-

_Yeji. A crying trembling Yeji being held up by a man in black on the far opposite end._

Jeongyeon nervously looks at the bomb clock again: 23 seconds.. 21 seconds..

Her feet feels like they’re stuck in the snow and she suddenly can’t move.

“The time is ticking Detective Yoo. Choose now or you’ll lose both of them.”

Mina finally realizes what’s going on-

“Jeong, save Yeji first!”

“Unnie!! Help me! Jeongyeon-unnie will protect me!”

Yeji repeats the phrase that Jeongyeon always says to her. 

The sounds of the digital clock ticking and Yeji’s pleas get louder in Jeongyeon’s ears.

_16 seconds.. 14 seconds.._

Jeongyeon grits her teeth _, “Damn it.”_

She hears Yeji’s repeated desperate cries of help in the background as the chief detective finally makes her run towards Mina.

“Jeong, No! Yeji..”

Mina cries when she sees a conflicted Jeongyeon running to her.

There’s only 9 seconds left when the chief detective finally gets to her wife.

“Good choice, Detective.” The man shouts from afar. 

And the last sound that Jeongyeon hears is Yeji’s diminishing cries of help from the floors below, as she finally detonates the bomb with just a second left on the clock.

When Mina is finally freed, they quickly chased the masked man up until the house’s outside lawn where they exchanged fires and he successfully shot Jeongyeon from his car. 

The chief detective instantly fell down and winced from the bullet pain on her side stomach. Mina immediately ran to her rescue and Jeongyeon commanded that they still chase the criminal with Yeji, despite her bleeding state.

But they eventually lost track of him on the main roads, and despite Jeongyeon’s objection- Mina quickly changed their route to the hospital after recognizing her wife’s now critical state. 

*****

“Did you get the girl?”

“Yes, Mayor.”

“and that nuisance detective?”

“I shot her after playing with her. But I’m not sure if she’s dead yet.”

“It’s ok, we’ll handle her. Good job.”

“Anytime, Mayor.”

The mayor puts down the phone and lights up a new stick from his expensive tobacco set. He puffs a chunk, and when the cloud of black smoke disappears in front of his face, his lips are now breaking out into a menacing satisfied grin.

*****

Two days after the attack in the safe house, Yeji’s dead body was found in a deserted field somewhere around 250 miles away from Gyeongsang.

Jeongyeon is still in the hospital recovering from her gunshot wounds when she heard the news. Ever since Mina told her what happened to Yeji, the chief detective has been having bad dreams about the little girl.

And every time Jeongyeon cries in the middle of the night and stirred wide awake after her nightmare, Mina would embrace her tight to calm her down. 

And for each tremble that she feels from Jeongyeon’s body, for each cold sweat that drops down her wife’s grieving face, Mina blames herself a little deeper.

*****

“They want her jailed, Park.” 

The General, Jihyo’s superior, speaks firmly over the phone.

“And for what account, General? You know it’s not Detective Yoo’s fault.”

The Station Chief grits her teeth when she tries her best to answer as calmly as she could to her puppet superior.

“Negligence of duty.”

The general answer like it’s something so shallow, and Jihyo’s short patience quickly runs thin.

“Negligence..” Jihyo scoffs loudly, “What kind of bullshit is that?!”

“Watch your language, Park.”

“General, you know I won’t allow this. Detective Yoo didn’t break any law.”

“I know how stubborn you can be, that’s why they have a proposal for you.”

Jihyo inhales deeply, her jaw clenching.

“General Kim, how many times should I tell you that I’m not open to any of those _proposals_.”

“Let them jail Yoo for half a year, or else they’re going to bring it to the media. You know how they can manipulate and sensationalize everything, Park. The public’s condemnation from a mediaplay can lead to Detective Yoo’s lifetime imprisonment, or worst- she’ll end up in the death row.”

Jihyo knows about this diversionary tactic very well. She can’t believe that her higher ups would waste their time to accuse her friend rather than find the real suspect that killed Yeji, and consequently the culprit to their high profile murder case.

“Who is it this time, General? Who are you trying to cover up, huh?”

“Just six months, Park.”

Jihyo presses further, “Who’s giving you orders?”

“I’m warning you, Park. You don’t even want to mess with them.”

“How can you even stomach all of this, General?” Jihyo’s knuckles whiten on how tight she’s clenching her fist now on her desk. “You’re a public police officer. You’re supposed to protect your people- innocent people. Not cover up for those killers and corrupted politicians.”

“I need to live.” The general replies quietly, “I have my own family, Park.”

“And we don’t? I have a family too, General.” Jihyo refused to lose her stance, 

“I’m not accepting their nonsense proposal. We’ll fight for the truth. If you can’t be the police officer that you need to be, then I will. My team will.”

The general exhales loudly,

“Chief Park, just a piece of advice from someone who’s been here longer than you are- accept their offer now so we don’t get any more complications. Just a few months and everything will go back to normal again.”

“I’m sorry I can’t accept it, General. Goodbye.”

Jihyo replies in her resolute tone and ends the call.

*****

The following week, a breaking news about a corrupted police officer allegedly involved in an organized slay of a young innocent girl has caused an immediate public outrage. Speculations about that same police officer being involved in a separate murder case are now spreading like wildfire across the entire country.

Mina and Jihyo are on their way to visit Jeongyeon in the hospital when the senior detective sees a blurred picture of her wife circulating over the internet. It’s an incomprehensible picture but Mina knows that it’s Jeongyeon.

“Ji, have you seen this?” Mina stops walking and lifts her phone for Jihyo to see, “Are they trying to incriminate Jeong for Yeji’s case?”

Jihyo gets the phone and a rage quickly boils within her after realizing what’s happening.

They’re only a few steps away from Jeongyeon’s room. So Jihyo tries to pull Mina a couple of feet back, away from the hearing distance, before she finally explains everything to her friend.

After hearing everything, Mina’s face is now reflecting a mixture of disgust, anger and worry. She’s about to comment about the outrageous _proposal_ when Jeongyeon’s loud screams have startled them both. 

The senior detective hurriedly runs inside her wife’s room and Jihyo quickly follows behind.

And right in that moment, the Station Chief finally bears witness to Jeongyeon’s breakdown after a terrible nightmare. Jihyo’s heart aches when she sees a struggling Mina embraces her wife and calms her down.

She turns around from the scene and quietly walks outside the room, hoping that it would somehow alleviate the unknown guilt that’s starting to creep inside her chest.

*****

When Jeongyeon finally calms down and Mina has lulled her to sleep, the senior detective steps outside to buy her late dinner. But instead of going to the hospital cafeteria, she walks to one of the benches lined outside when she sees her friend quietly sitting on one of them.

Jihyo weakly smiles at her friend to acknowledge her presence, and Mina responded with an equally tired smile.

Both of the ladies then leaned their head back against the wall, closed their eyes, and let the exhaustion washed over them. Instead of talking, they just let the long minutes of silence hover between them – with only the strong distinct smell of hospital scent and the careful footsteps of rounding nurses grounding them to reality.

After a while, Mina finally speaks quietly, her eyes are still closed.

“Can I do it instead?” 

“What?” 

Jihyo mumbles and opens her eyes. She looks at Mina’s way- her friend looks like she’s sleeping.

“It’s just six months right?” Mina finally opens her eyes and stares at Jihyo, “Let me do it instead.”

“Are you insane?” Jihyo looks at her like it’s the most preposterous statement Mina has ever said. In a way, it actually really is.

“I’m serious, Ji. If there’s a way that I can do it instead of Jeong, then I’ll do it.”

“No.” Jihyo shakes her head and replies sternly. 

“And that’s final, Detective Myoui. That’s my order as your superior.” 

The determined look on Mina’s eyes slowly wavers when she begs at her friend,

“Ji, you know what they’re capable of.. it’s just a matter of time before they fully expose her identity to the public and it’ll be more difficult for us then. It’s obvious that Jeong is their target.. But Jeong isn’t stable now, you’ve seen it earlier.” 

Mina holds Jihyo’s hand, “Everything is my fault, Ji. Just let me do it instead, please. ”

“Mina, it’s not.. none of this was either of your fault, ok?”

“It is.” A tear slips down Mina’s face. “Everything was my fault. I shouldn’t have visited that day.. Jeong wouldn’t need to save me. Yeji would still be alive. It’s all my fault, Ji. Everything is my fault.”

The guilty look on Mina’s eyes is sending crushing pain in Jihyo’s heart.

The Station Chief’s resolve is dangerously waning, but she still chooses to be firm-

“I won’t let them do this to you either. We can still find ways, Mina. It’s not this.”

“But we’re running out of time. The world is not ideal, Ji. You know that.” Mina grits her teeth and looks her directly in the eye. “And for every second that we hesitate, Jeong’s life gets more in danger.. and her name will soon be dragged publicly. It’s the only quick way to solve this. You know it, Ji.”

“But they’ll kill you, Mina. As soon as you step inside the prison, there’s a high chance that they’ll kill you.”

“I’m not Jeong. I’m not their target. They won’t kill me.” Mina squeezes Jihyo’s hand, 

“It’s just six months, Ji. I can manage. We just have to succumb to their request for now and then we can get back to them the rightful way when I get out.”

“No.. I won’t allow it.”

Mina catches Jihyo’s eyes again and begs, 

“But we’re running out of time now.. Ji, please. For your friend?”

Mina’s loaded stare is hauntingly pleading so the Station Chief quickly averted her gaze. 

“I’m not letting my friend die in prison.”

“I know you won’t.”

Mina squeezes her hand again, and Jihyo finally feels her resolve collapsing fully.

*****

When the Mayor finds out about Jihyo’s request on his proposal, it surprisingly delighted him more and so he came up with more vicious terms to torture his _favorite_ detective.

“Two years..” Mina stares at Jihyo anxiously, “why two years all of a sudden? And a divorce?”

“I know, it’s ridiculous. Let’s just back out. They’re just playing us, Mina.” 

Mina looks at her friend like she’s actually considering it. 

“I can bear the years. But the divorce..”

She glances down on her wedding band and firmly holds the ring on her finger.

“.. I don’t think I can do it.”

*****

While still contemplating on the new terms, Mina tries to hack and deletes all articles and blurred photos of her wife on the internet. But for each article that she takes down, 10 new malicious ones pop out. 

She also tries to secretly investigate Yeji and Jeongyeon’s assigned case in the background, but every lead that she gets points to a dead end.

It’s getting more difficult for her to clean up the impending mess while they continue to delay her decision. She and Jihyo have only been given two days to decide, or else Jeongyeon’s full identity will be publicly revealed.

Despite Mina and Jihyo knowing that the truth is on their side, they both feel helpless. They know that in the real world, more often than not - the accepted _truth_ is being moulded by the powerful and the corrupt.

Mina is aware that whoever’s manipulating them, their obvious real target is her wife. And if she delays this further and it gets on the higher court, Jeongyeon’s life is done as soon as she gets arrested and puts to prison before the trial even begins.

Mina can’t risk her wife’s life. If the worst happens, she thinks that it won’t matter to her anymore, even if justice is served eventually. 

So despite the heavy weight looming within her chest, she picks up her phone and calls Jihyo.

She raises her left hand and admires her precious wedding ring for one last time.

*****

The incriminating article stops and Mina is only given two days to say her goodbyes.

*****

****

Two nights before, Mina enters the hospital with a memorized script in her head. She doesn’t know if she’ll be convincing but she’ll try her best. It already pains her just thinking about it.

But when she opens the door, her resolve immediately crumbles when she sees Jeongyeon smiling at her from the bed. It’s the first time in days that she has seen that genuine excited smile on her wife’s face again.

“Honey! I’ve been waiting for you.”

Jeongyeon perks up when she sees her wife entering. 

Internally Mina is happy seeing Jeongyeon looking healthier today, but her lips only forced out a small smile when she walks towards her wife’s bed,

“You missed me that much, huh?”

Jeongyeon nods and smiles widely. “Of course, hon. I miss you every day.”

She raises both of her arms for a hug. 

Mina forces out a chuckle and tries to joke.

“But I’m here every day. You didn’t notice?”

When her wife didn’t move towards her open arms, Jeongyeon pulls Mina in for an embrace. 

Mina didn’t resist. She couldn’t resist.

“I know, hon.” Jeongyeon gently rubs her wife’s back. 

“I’m sorry if I was being difficult these past few days.”

Mina’s heart begins to ache. 

“You weren’t-” She gulps and stops herself. Mina almost spilled the contents of her heart. 

It’s not in her script. She should follow her script. “..It’s ok.”

_You weren’t being difficult, hon. I’d always take care of you_. _I love taking care of you_ \- is what she was about to say. 

Jeongyeon hugs her tighter, “I’m sorry, hon. I promise I’d make it up to you when I get discharged.” She kisses Mina’s hair. “Thank you for always taking care of me.. I love you.” 

Mina closes her eyes at the feeling of her wife’s gentle kiss, and she bites her lower lip to hold back her tears. _I love you too._

She finally raises her hand and taps Jeongyeon’s back, subtly pulling her in a little closer. 

“Honey..” Jeongyeon caresses her hair. “Are you ok?”

“I’m ok..” Mina lies but her voice croaks so Jeongyeon isn’t convinced.

Jeongyeon then tries to break away from their hug so she could see her wife, but Mina stops her immediately. 

She gently holds the back of Jeongyeon’s head and tightens their embrace.

“Let’s just stay like this..”

Jeongyeon is aware that Mina is quietly crying. But her wife probably doesn’t want her to see it so she pretends that she doesn’t know. 

“Okay, hon.” Jeongyeon continues to rub soothing circles on her wife’s back. “You know I’m also here for you, right?”

She kisses the side of Mina’s head and whispers to her ear,

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The dam in her eyes is now broken. And Mina hates why these tears suddenly just won’t stop. 

Jeongyeon allows her wife to silently cry on her shoulders.

Mina never realizes how difficult it is to follow her script.

*****

That night, Mina delayed her plan. She still has another day anyway.

Mina took care of Jeongyeon, and she smiled longingly when her wife thanked her. 

Mina smiled at Jeongyeon, but she didn’t say much. 

That night, Mina delayed her plan so she can feel Jeongyeon’s hugs and kisses again. 

Even for the last time.

*****

“I’m accepting Interpol’s job offer to me.”

Jeongyeon stops scrolling through her phone and looks at her wife confused. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I thought we’ve decided on this already. You didn’t decline it yet?”

“I didn’t.” _Mina declined it._

“Hon..” Jeongyeon reaches for Mina’s hand but her wife steps back from her hospital bed. Jeongyeon’s brows furrowed a bit, “Hon.. I thought we both agreed we wouldn’t do long distance?”

“Yes, that’s why I’m filing a divorce.”

“What?” 

“I want..” Mina clears her throat. She hates how her wife is unconsciously making her lie repeatedly, 

“I want a divorce.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s just plain and simple. What’s making it hard for you to understand? I’m choosing my career over you.” The lie tasted bitter on Mina’s tongue.

When Jeongyeon continues to stay silent, she delivers the final blow.

“My flight to the US is tomorrow. I just want to personally say my goodbye.”

She can’t bear to look directly into Jeongyeon’s eyes anymore, so Mina finally turns around and starts walking away. But her wife quickly catches her hand and holds it firmly.

“Honey…” She hears Jeongyeon’s worried voice. “..what’s the problem?”

Mina tries to retract her hand but Jeongyeon’s grip is secured.

“There’s no problem.”

“There is.. What’s bothering you, hon? Tell me. Do you feel sick or anything?”

“I’m not sick..” 

“But why are you suddenly asking for a divorce? I don’t understand.”

Mina inhales a deep breath before she faces her wife again. It’s best if Jeongyeon gets mad at her.

“Did the gun wounds also affect your brain? I already explained the reason, why are you still asking about it?”

Jeongyeon looks offended now, her eyes are now reflecting a hint of pain and her grip on Mina’s hand slightly loosens. “So.. you’re really serious?”

“Yes.”

“You’re really choosing your career over me?”

“Yes.”

“After I saved your life? After I chose you.. ” Jeongyeon’s lips are now trembling, “..over Yeji?”

The pained expression on her wife’s face now is what Mina wanted to see earlier, but why does it suddenly breaks her heart to finally witness it?

“I didn’t ask for it.” 

“You didn’t. But you’re my wife, Mina. I’ll always choose you, you know that.”

“Well, it’s your problem not mine.” 

“But we’re married!” Jeongyeon finally raises her shaky voice, “We’re married, Mina.. Shouldn’t we be choosing each other first?”

Mina averts her gaze from Jeongyeon’s judging stare - it burns her.

“Why can’t you do the same for me? I thought you love me.”

When Mina didn’t respond, Jeongyeon finally lets go of her wife’s hand.

Mina’s heart sinks at the immediate loss of contact.

Mina quietly turns around again and starts walking to the door. She’s only a few steps away from the exit when Jeongyeon speaks again,

“Will that make you happy?”

Mina halts on her steps and nods. She just wants this painful lies to get over with.

“Don’t I..” Jeongyeon voices out quietly, “Don’t I make you happy anymore?”

Mina didn’t move.

“I can.. I can go with you to the US if that’s what you really want. Just please..”

“... please don’t leave me.”

The pleading tone in Jeongyeon’s voice is so heartbreaking that Mina restrains herself to fully turn around and run to her wife.

Mina hears that Jeongyeon is finally breaking into a sob, and with her back now facing her wife- Mina is already crying too.

“Please don’t leave me, hon..” 

Jeongyeon chokes on her tears and Mina wipes her own.

And for a few seconds, the hospital room is filled with only the sound of their faint sobs, while Mina tries her best to stop her tears.

Mina is about to take another step when she hears Jeongyeon’s voice near her.

“You’re crying too aren’t you?” 

And her broken heart almost surrenders when Jeongyeon embraces her from behind and dabs her tear-stricken face on Mina’s back. 

“Why do you want a divorce when it’s making you cry too?”

Jeongyeon tightens her embrace and Mina’s heart already feels like it’s been punched to death. 

“Honey... don’t leave me please..”

“Let go.”

“Honey.. please..”

“Don’t..” Mina looks down on Jeongyeon’s arms and tries to pull them apart,

“.. don’t call me honey anymore.”

Jeongyon’s hold on her slightly loosens and Mina takes it as an opportunity to finally escape and walks out of the room. A second longer under Jeongyeon’s embrace would completely shatter her already crumbling façade.

On her dazed run outside, Mina accidentally bumps into Jihyo and she urgently requested her friend to look over Jeongyeon.

The Station Chief is initially torn because Mina also looks devastated, but she eventually runs into Jeongyeon’s room knowing that it’s the chief detective who’s currently more unstable between the two.

And so it is through the confines of the hospital’s bathroom stall where Mina finally allows herself to cry out loud and wallows in the pain of her already shattered heart. 

And as she puts up her hands to cover her face, the wedding ring in her finger is soaked with her endless burning tears.

~~~

_I'm awake in the infinite cold_

_But you sing to me over_

_and over_

_and over again.._

~~~

When Mina was imprisoned, there are only two important things that she brought with her aside from a few set of clothes:

  1. Jeongyeon’s blue fleece jacket.



  1. Her old player with their cd playlist on it.



These two precious things have kept her sanity intact during cold painful hollow nights.

It was winter during her first three months in prison, and Mina nearly died of the cold if not only for Jihyo requesting to bring a portable heater inside her cell.

But Mina didn’t mind the cold, really. Most freezing nights, she’d just wear her wife’s thick and comfortable jacket, and imagine the warmth of Jeongyeon’s hands holding her own, while she listens to the songs of their playlist. 

She would reminisce the special moment when Jeongyeon first held her hand, and Mina’s heart ignites a few spark of heat, even though in reality- her body is actually trembling and her nails are turning blue.

On nights when she can’t sleep, she’d listen to their playlist and imagine her wife singing the songs to her with a guitar on hand- it was only with the memories of Jeongyeon’s beautiful singing voice that Mina has found a temporary comfort to finally lull herself to sleep.

In prison, an hour feels like an eternity. And despite Jihyo always visiting her and updating her on what’s happening outside, what’s happening to her wife, Mina feels dead inside most of the time.

So every day and every night, Mina listens to their playlist.

It keeps her alive because the songs reminded her of her wife and their memories together.

Sometimes the memories elicit a tired smile on her chapped lips.

It keeps her alive because she also feels pain while listening to the songs. 

And when she notices the tears sliding down her face again- it is only then that Mina would know she’s not really dead yet.

*****

During Mina’s first year in prison, Jihyo made it a point to visit her friend at least twice a week. She always brings Mina some stuff like books and knitting sets to keep her friend occupied and busy. 

Mina eventually finds temporary contentment in knitting especially when she thinks of her wife. 

When she finishes a blue scarf like the colour of an Iris, Mina hands it over to Jihyo and requested to give it to Jeongyeon- in the guise that it was Jihyo who knitted it.

On nights when she’s not visiting Mina, Jihyo is looking over Jeongyeon who was still a complete mess during the first months of their separation.

The Station Chief also made sure that their end of the bargain was met so that Mina’s sacrifice is not for naught. She’s also been in constant heated argument with the General if they can release Mina earlier than the agreed timeframe. And in the background, Jihyo tries to secretly investigate and digs deeper to uncover who’s the mastermind behind all of this.

Every time that she visits Mina, Jihyo’s guilt and worry grows bigger. The only compensation that she has is the ensured safety of her friends. 

And despite Jihyo being a strong and independent woman by nature, there are nights when she internally feels weaker and vulnerable too.

So in moments when everything that’s happening around is taking a toll on her, Jihyo finds temporary solace by drinking alone inside a usually crowd less tent street stall, just a few blocks away from their station.

“Chief Park?”

Jihyo is already on her second bottle of soju when she hears someone calls her name. She doesn’t need to look in the voice’s direction to know who’s it from- the sudden skipping of her heart is already enough of an indication.

The senior detective walks towards her quiet corner and stops right in front of her small table.

“Hey Chief.”

“Sana.. what are you doing here?”

Sana raises the white plastic bag on her right hand, “I was buying dumplings for midnight snack.”

“Oh.” Jihyo nods, “Good choice. Their pork dumplings here are the best.”

Sana smiles a little, but it already warms Jihyo’s heart.

“I know Chief. I always buy my midnight snacks here.”

Jihyo squints because if Sana is saying the truth, then why did she only see her now in this place? She’s out here drinking almost every other week.

“I also always see you here Chief, but I figure you need some time alone so I didn’t bother you.”

_Oh._ Jihyo wonders if she said her internal musings out loud.

The Station Chief clears her throat, “Oh. Is that so?” 

Sana smiles again before she picks one dumpling from her plastic bag and puts it on Jihyo’s table.

“You should eat too, Chief. Drinking on an empty stomach is bad for your health.”

For a few seconds, Jihyo’s gaze remains fixed on the dumpling on her table, until she hears Sana speaks again, “Goodnight Chief Park. Be safe on your way home.”

When Jihyo lifts her head, Sana is already walking away,

“Sana!” She calls out, “Will you.. have a drink with me tonight?”

And Jihyo doesn’t want to put any meaning behind the brighter smile that Sana flashes when the senior detective starts walking towards her table again, and finally sits on the chair just right across her.

It’s the first time that Jihyo has talked to the senior detective alone, and it surprises her how easily she has already opened up her thoughts and inner conflicts to Sana. 

Maybe because of the alcohol- Jihyo thinks. Or maybe it’s the way Sana looks at her without a hint of judgment, and only with every bit of understanding when she tries to rant about and curse the very industry that they’re both part of:

“Fuck the police.” Jihyo scowls in gritted teeth. She raises her glass to Sana and curses again, “Fuck the government.”

“Fuck the police, Chief.” Sana is already tipsy but she still raises her glass to clinks it on Jihyo’s,

“and fuck the government too.”

Uttering those phrases has become Jihyo’s way of releasing all her pent-up anger and frustrations throughout the night, and Sana didn’t mind hearing it from her.

Three more soju bottles after, Jihyo finally feels tipsy yet she feels a lot lighter now- like a heavy load is lifted from her chest. Still, she wants to say it out loud again-

“Fuck the police. Fuck the government!” She raises her glass to Sana but the senior detective’s head is already slumped down on the table- she’s already passed out only after drinking four glasses.

Jihyo smiles at the sight, her heart feels warmer after discovering that Sana is a lightweight and yet the senior detective still joins to drink with her.

Jihyo reaches over and tries to tuck some loose hair strands covering Sana’s face. When Sana hums through her sleep, a tight lipped smile grazes Jihyo’s lips before she whispers, her voice low and desolate-

“Fuck feelings too.”

*****

**Winter. December 2018.**

Exactly a year after Mina was imprisoned, the Station Chief is preparing herself to visit her friend again after dinner when Jeongyeon enters her office.

“What is this?”

Jihyo asks while she accepts the envelope from the Chief Detective’s hands.

“It’s our divorced papers. I already signed it. Mail it to her.”

Jeongyeon replies coldly, there’s still a hint of pain and sorrow in her voice.

Upon Jeongyeon’s confirmation, Jihyo feels like her heart is crushed. 

She remembers how Mina is always asking her if Jeongyeon has signed their divorce papers yet, and when Jihyo confirms that she hasn’t - Mina’s tired eyes and chapped lips curve up into a hopeful smile.

Jihyo knows that Mina is still holding on to that small hope, her only remaining hope- and now Jeongyeon has just ended it.

“You finally signed it..” Jihyo looks down on the envelope.

“Yes, I signed it. Tell her I’m sorry it took so long..” Jeongyeon’s voice feels heavy.

“She’s finally free now…" The chief detective’s eyes are still fixed on the envelope. When she feels her hand fidgeting again, she bites her inner cheeks to prevent another impending breakdown.

But after only a few seconds of staring at the file, Jeongyeon calls out to her friend, “..Ji -” 

And when Jihyo looks at her, she quickly holds the Chief Detective’s hands.

“What is it, Jeong?”

Jeongyeon’s eyes are hollow and sad, like an ocean deep with misery. She grips Jihyo’s hold on her and her lips quiver when she speaks again, “I still miss her..” 

Tears finally roll down her cheeks, “I still.. I miss her so much.. but I have to let her go now.. It’s been a year.. I’m finally letting her go now, Ji.”

When she hugs her friend and Jeongyeon cries on her shoulder, it is only then that Jihyo realizes that like Mina, Jeongyeon too was still holding on to that small hope.

*****

Jihyo was conflicted if she should tell her friend about the signed divorce papers when she visits Mina later that night. Specially when her friend confided to her about a guard who has beaten her up the other day.

The Station Chief is enraged seeing the fresh wounds all over Mina’s face. And Jihyo’s heart only aches deeper when Mina just smiles at her after hearing that Jeongyeon likes the knitted mittens that she ( _Jihyo)_ gave to her wife.

Mina just shrugged off the gravity of her situation early on, and the entire time that they talk – Mina is in a better mood and just smiling to her sincerely. 

So Jihyo decided to postpone breaking the bad news to her friend for now – _maybe next week._

But thirty minutes into their catch up, Mina finally asks her the _question_.

“So.. any news Ji?”

Jihyo gulps nervously. She was hoping Mina wouldn’t ask her about it. She’s already lying to Jeongyeon, she doesn’t want to lie to Mina too.

Yet here’s her friend, looking at her with the same hopeful eyes like she’s been giving Jihyo for the past year. Jihyo knows that Mina is just waiting for her to voice out the same answer.

But Jihyo has a different answer today. 

She tightly grasps the envelope on her lap under the table as she continues to look into Mina’s hopeful waiting eyes.

“Mina…” Jihyo finally lifts the document and puts it on the table.

“…I’m sorry..”

Jihyo notices the way Mina’s smile wavers slowly when she reaches out for the envelope and opens it.

And like the inevitable pain from a stab, like the blood that gushes out when a knife is eventually pulled out- Mina’s tears flow uncontrollably when her eyes finally landed on her wife’s signature.

When the signed papers have almost been filled with her tears, she lifts her head and looks at Jihyo again. Her pained stare is now devoid of any purpose. The same stare that Jeongyeon gave to Jihyo earlier.

“She finally signed it.”

Mina’s body shakes amidst her crying. And when she tries to fake a smile, the wounds on her lips are now hurting.

She looks down on the wet papers again and when she hovers her fingertips over her wife’s signature, the sensation burns her skin.

“We’re officially divorced now, Ji.” Another tear drops on the paper again, 

“She’s not my wife anymore..”

And that day, Jihyo bears witness to how the only remaining hope from two of her closest friends breaks all at once- like the shattering shards from a fallen treasured glass. 

A fragile glass of hope which Jeongyeon and Mina tried hard to protect and hold on to, until this dreadful day.

And as the sole witness and the only other person who knows the entire story between the two - it hurts her deeply. 

It hurts her like a hundred blooming roses inside her chest- a roses with no petals but only thorns. 

And it that moment Jihyo thinks- sometimes being honest inflicts the deepest of wounds.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 07: Only Hope by Mandy Moore
> 
> Next Chapter: may or may not be published on JeongMi day.  
>   
>    
> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter (but please be kind. huhu). I know this chapter is angsty, I'm sorry. It's just necessary for the remaining chapters.
> 
> Also I've made a [ GND Spotify playlist ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3dvjr7qbY7lUq32rHMqi9Z?si=ICqE5cFzTi2L9Gzdht2fKw) as per some readers' request. :)
> 
>   
> Note: the clip that Jeongyeon saw is a joint clips of the guard beating Mina up in prison, and MiHyo talking inside the visitation room.
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	8. Track 08: Valentine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present timeline again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Para sa mga nagmahal, nasaktan, nagmamahal, at magmamahal pa lang._  
>   
>  (To those who have loved before, have been brokenhearted, is currently in love, and will love in the future.)

~~~

**_Maybe to love is to empty yourself over and over again, until you finally know how much you can hold._ **

~~~

Jeongyeon feels broken.

More broken than that night in the hospital room when Mina pulled her arms apart, ran towards the door, and completely vanished from her sight, from her life.

Sitting here now in Jihyo’s couch, after the last word of the real story has been uttered, Jeongyeon’s entire body feels numb but the tearing ache inside her heart is unbearably more painful.

She hears her friend speaks again, more quietly, while a gentle hand taps the upper of her back-

_“There was never a day that she didn’t ask about you.. even after her release.”_

And the vision of the balcony window from Jeongyeon’s line of sight becomes blurry again- as she feels her tired body shakes, when another set of pained tears stream endlessly across her already wet cheeks.

Jeongyeon feels resentful.

She didn’t go home immediately but drove to their shooting range practice field instead.

When the waterworks have finally stopped, she now feels like a century old dormant volcano that’s been flicked to life again- just a few seconds away from destruction. 

An eruption filled with rage, anguish, frustration, and vengeance. 

She brings out eight sets of bullet boxes and loads the first batch onto her handgun. She pushes the target button and does not press stop until the paper target finally reaches the distance that is nearest to her.

Jeongyeon lifts her hand, clenches her jaw, and finally fires at the target. The bullet flies and penetrates through perfectly, directly hitting the spot where she imagined is the Mayor’s head at.

She quickly reloads, cocks her gun and shoots again.

She fires another one. And another one. She fires on the same spot. She fires on all the spots encircling around it.

She aims and fires until her first batch of bullets runs out, and her imagined target has been pierced into pieces.

When the paper has been filled with holes of her rage, Jeongyeon moves to another firing row spot and shoots a fresh new target, but still imagining the same face.

And for many minutes, up until the last piece of bullet canister has been emptied, the consecutive blasts of Jeongyeon’s gun are the only sounds that reverberate throughout the entire area of the highly advanced firing complex. 

~~~

**_Maybe to love is to expose your heart while it is still bleeding, hoping and trusting that the other person will press their hands gently against your chest and stem the violent flow._ **

~~~

Jeongyeon feels exhausted.

It’s already sunrise when she starts driving back home. She’s now dragging her feet and inserting her key into the door when she feels her phone vibrating.

Exhaustion decreases her reflexes and it takes a while for her to find the right pocket where the phone is. When she opens the device, it’s already filled with several missed calls and messages from her ex-wife.

Just as she enters their doorstep, her phone vibrates again and this time she picks it up.

“Honey!” Mina’s worried voice immediately greets her, “oh my god. are you ok?” it sounds louder in her ears.

And when Jeongyeon lifts her head up from her home slippers towards their hallway, a pair of gentle hands immediately cups her cheeks.

“Honey, where were you? I was worried about you. You were gone for hours.”

Jeongyeon is met with the most beautiful set of eyes that she has ever seen.

“Did something happen? Are you ok?”

And she’s come face-to-face with the sole reason of her agony, of her pain, of her spitefulness, the reason of her breathing, the reason why she wakes up every day, the very reason of her life.

Mina is looking at her worriedly, and Jeongyeon’s already exhausted body doesn’t have the capacity anymore to stop another tear from falling.

“Honey..” Jeongyeon holds Mina’s wrist, she leans into her ex-wife’s touch and smiles slightly, while another tear rolls down her cheeks, “I love you..” Her lips tremble with the gravity of emotions that she wants to convey, “ ..so much..”

“I love you so much..” Her tears are unstoppable again. 

Mina pulls her in immediately, and a shaking Jeongyeon allows her body to melt into her ex-wife’s embrace.

“I love you too, honey.” Mina whispers lovingly, her tone dripping with equal fondness and worry.

Jeongyeon envelops her arms tighter around Mina’s body as if her ex-wife would suddenly disappear if she loosens her hold even at the slightest degree. 

Tears are still dropping on Mina’s sweater when Jeongyeon utters again, her voice already tired and raspy, 

“I’m sorry, hon.. I love you so much..”

“Why are you sorry? What happened?”

Jeongyeon didn’t answer and she just continues to cry and endears her ex-wife repeatedly, so Mina didn’t press on any further. 

For every sob that she hears from her ex-wife, Mina returns it with a soothing touch, and for many quiet minutes thereafter, she just let Jeongyeon cry her heart out while she hugs and comforts her ex-wife. 

When Jeongyeon finally calms down, Mina offers her breakfast but she just requested for them to lie down in the bed again. 

Mina immediately complies even though she doesn’t feel sleepy anymore. It’s already past seven in the morning, but it’s a weekend so they don’t have any official work today.

As soon as Jeongyeon hit the sheets, she feels the rush of exhaustion taking over her body. Mina cuddles her tight and Jeongyeon lets her senses be lulled by the sweet scent of her ex-wife in the morning. 

She feels the touch of Mina’s lips on her forehead and the gentle threading of her hair. And Mina's soft quiet voice is a lullaby to her ears.

_“Sleep well, honey. I'm just right here.”_

And with the bright rays of early morning sunlight peeking through the curtains, in the quiet and steady beating of Mina’s heart that she feels in her cheek, in the warmth of Mina’s arms that surrounds her tired body, Jeongyeon has allowed her exhausted body to finally succumb to sleep.

A quiet peaceful sleep.

And when Mina hears Jeongyeon’s light snores, she smiles fondly and plants another soft kiss on her ex-wife’s forehead. She closes her eyes and allows herself to be lulled by the sound of her ex-wife’s breathing.

And together, away from the harshness of the cruel world outside, here within the confines and comfort of each other’s embrace, the couple travels into dreamland again.

Jeongyeon is asleep now but she finally feels at peace.

Mina is asleep again but now she feels safer.

They are both peacefully sleeping now, and with the warmth of each other’s embrace, their hearts finally found each other, and together they both feel at home.

~~~

**_Maybe love was meant to splash different colors in our sky, to show us that blue is not the only thing we can surround ourselves with._ **

~~~

It’s Valentine’s day, and even though it’s Sunday, almost all the detectives in the Special Operations unit have been called to work on that day because of an emergency situation.

Jeongyeon is now driving back to the station when the chief detective notices that Mina is staring and smiling at her from the passenger seat.

“Why are you smiling at me like that?” 

Jeongyeon grins teasingly.

“Why? Do you want me to frown at you instead?” 

Mina retorts back with the same amount of teasing in her tone.

The chief detective turns to look at her ex-wife when the traffic light shifts to red. 

“Honey, I know that I’m irresistible but we still gotta work today so..” Jeongyeon reaches for Mina’s hand and kisses the back of it softly, “.. I can only do this for now.” 

“But later tonight you can have all of me again, how does that sound?”

Jeongyeon attempts to wink but fails adorably.

Mina chuckles fondly at her ex-wife’s antics. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head but not after intertwining their hands together.

“Hon, as much as I love your pretty face, I was just looking at your scarf this time.”

“My scarf?” Jeongyeon replies squinting.

“Yes. I noticed that you’ve been using that a lot. Is that your new favorite scarf now?”

“Oh this?” Jeongyeon looks down at the blue knitted scarf that she’s currently wearing. “Jihyo gave it to me. It looks fluffy right?”

“Yeah it’s so fluffy. Does it make you feel warm?”

“It does.” 

At the chief detective’s confirmation, Mina’s eyes light up with happiness. Her gummy smile is so wide that Jeongyeon’s detective senses kindle a hunch within her, as she simultaneously remembers something that Jihyo has vaguely mentioned in passing.

So to confirm her hunch, the chief detective looks at Mina fondly, a playful smile now dancing around her lips.

“And you’re right, honey. It is.”

“It is what?”

“It’s my favorite scarf now.”

And when Mina smiles again, Jeongyeon thinks the sun would be put to shame. Her ex-wife is now smiling so wide and so bright that Jeongyeon feels her heart leaps with joy and dance with satisfaction, and the scarf around her neck feels fluffier and more comfortable than before.

Mina then reaches over and fixes her scarf.

“I’m glad you like it, honey. It looks perfect on you.”

Jeongyeon’s smile radiates with fondness, her tone warm and pleasant,

“As perfect as you are to me.”

And she finally shifts the gear to start driving again.

~~~

**_Maybe love doesn’t exist. Maybe it is a mere social construct created to sell paperbacks and songs and pretty pictures and flowers and chocolate, deluding us to think that there is something more to this life, that we are not just bags of red meat and brittle bones born to eat and shit until we die, and the world goes on as it has for millions of years, even without us in it._ **

~~~

When they reached their building, Dahyun has pulled Mina again by the entrance for another emergency _query,_ and so Jeongyeon enters their station first.

Once finally inside, Mina notices that most detectives are holding a stem of rose and thanking her ex-wife. She internally smiles realizing that Jeongyeon never stopped her tradition during Valentine’s day - the chief detective always buys flowers and gives a stem of rose to each lady in their station, everyone including their staff. 

When their cleaning lady holding a stem of rose passes by her and greets her good afternoon, Mina feels proud of Jeongyeon, and perhaps she loves her even more. 

And as she walks near her desk, her heart becomes giddier in anticipation because Jeongyeon always puts the largest bouquet of flowers on top of her desk every Valentines day. 

But when Mina finally reaches her workstation, her wide smile instantly turns into a confused frown when she only finds a single stem of rose beside her keyboard. Just a stem - exactly similar to what the other detectives and staff are holding. 

Though Mina can’t hide her disappointment, she tries to shrug it off knowing that it’s just a tiny shallow detail, and Jeongyeon’s love is not represented by that stem of flower alone.

But when she turns around and sees a smiling Sana holding a huge bouquet of roses, knowing full well who is it from, the dismay in her chest bubbles up again and she stomps her way inside the Station Chief’s office.

“I mean is it wrong for me to expect something more? I’m her partner. I know it’s kinda petty but.. is it wrong for me to feel like this, Ji?” 

A pouting Mina asks in a confused tone.

“Maybe she ran out of budget.”

Jihyo raises her eyebrow and teases her friend.

“Then you shouldn’t have deducted so much from her last salary!”

Mina whines. She can’t hide her annoyance now because she’s feeling so petty by reacting this way yet she can’t help it, and her friend still manages to tease her.

“Hey! It’s her Ducati payment. Payroll’s not deducting more than they should have.”

Knowing Jihyo is right, Mina just let out a loud exhale and admits quietly, her shoulders drooping like a kid after being rejected to buy her favorite candy.

“It’s just.. you even gave Sana another bouquet this year. You never failed to give her every year, and you’re not even her girlfriend.”

“But Sana doesn’t know it’s from me though..”

Jihyo replies nonchalantly, yet Mina notices the hint of sadness in her friend’s tone. 

Mina’s upset expression then shifts into something of sincere concern for her friend.

“Why do you even do it, Ji?”

“Do what?”

“Secretly giving her roses every Valentine’s day.”

Jihyo smiles coolly shrugging her shoulders. 

“She deserves it. She’s a wonderful lady.”

Mina knows there’s something more behind that cool façade, so she hesitates first before she speaks again, “Ji.. Detective Kim has consulted me earlier. She’s finally gonna ask Sana to be her girlfriend tonight.”

The senior detective then notices the way her friend’s smile falters slightly, before Jihyo tries to act cool again and replies in her most unaffected tone, “That’s good. Really good. good for her.” 

Jihyo turns around and pretends to reach out for something on her desk. “I’m happy for her.”

Mina didn’t comment and just looks at her friend with an empathetic stare.

“Oh by the way.. ” Jihyo focuses on Mina again when she finally composes herself. Then the Station Chief pauses halfway because she’s not sure if Jeongyeon has told Mina that she already knows everything. So instead of continuing further, she rephrases her question instead. 

“Are you still not prepared to tell Jeong everything?” 

Mina sighs quietly, “Not yet.. unfortunately.. But I’m getting there, Ji. Don’t worry.”

When she finally gets her confirmation, Jihyo holds Mina’s hands gently.

“It’s ok, Mina. Take your time. I’m sure Jeong understands.”

Jihyo thinks that now that Jeongyeon is fully aware of Mina’s internal scars, the Chief Detective respects her and didn’t force her ex-wife to open up the topic yet. 

Jihyo knows that Jeongyeon is just waiting for Mina to be completely brave again, brave enough to tell the whole story by herself. 

The Station Chief internally feels relieved that at least now, she’s not the only person who can sympathize with her friend. Mina’s finally got Jeongyeon now, and she’s got her life partner with her- now more dependable than ever.

“Now I feel pathetic..” Mina utters while shaking her head after hearing Jihyo’s response. She remembers the state of her ex-wife the other day and a rush of guilt immediately creeps within her.

Jihyo squints, “What do you mean?”

“I really was petty, Ji.. Anyway, I gotta go now.” She pulls Jihyo in for a hug and pats her friend’s back rather strongly. 

“Thanks for making me realize again that I’m such a lucky girl.” Mina strongly taps her back again before she breaks away from the hug.

The Station Chief immediately whines and reaches for her back dramatically.

“It really hurts, you know!”

Mina ignores her whine and just smiles gummily. She raises her hand and lightly punches her friend’s shoulder. 

“Happy Valentines, Rose.”

Jihyo snickers and returns the punch.

“Happy Valentines, Daisy.”

~~~

**_Maybe to love is to stay even when your feet is itching to run away, to recognize that escape is a vacation and they are the person you want to take with you on a train to nowhere._ **

~~~

It’s already past 6PM and most of the detectives in the station have already gone home. Sana looks at her watch, she has barely an hour left before her dinner with Dahyun. 

She stands up and prepares to leave when her eyes unknowingly glance on the bouquet of roses on her desk. She smiles and gets the flowers, thinking she should neatly put it in her vase at home again, just like she always does on the bouquet that she receives every Valentines day.

When she entered the restaurant, Dahyun greeted her with a much larger bouquet of white and yellow lilies, and Sana accepted it with a grateful smile. 

Their dinner went on smoothly, with Dahyun blabbering about codes and malwares, and Sana just listens at the younger girl with eager ears.

After their dinner, Dahyun brings her inside the largest interactive multi-sensory museum in Seoul, and Sana notices how the rookie detective’s state becomes fidgety when they enter a specific gallery section.

It is only when they are already standing in the middle of the crowdless gallery room alone, that Sana notices how the large LED screens around them are flashing vivid images of yellow lilies and white orchids. 

It is such a beautiful and marvelous sight but Sana doesn’t know why in that very moment, when Dahyun is already walking closer to her, amidst the sea of swaying yellows and whites around them, her eyes shifted down on the bouquet of red roses that Dahyun is holding. 

Her roses, which the rookie detective has volunteered to hold earlier because Sana is already holding the larger bouquet that Dahyun gave her.

She’s so focused on the red roses that she didn’t notice that Dahyun is already standing so close to her,

“Unnie.. I have something to ask you.” 

Dahyun holds her hand and it stirs Sana up from her trance, the younger girl’s hand is a bit shaky. 

“I know you said to just take it slow when I confessed before, but I couldn’t wait anymore.”

Her grip on Sana’s hand tightens, “So unnie..” Dahyun gulps nervously, “Sana-chan unnie.. will you be my girlfriend?”

Sana really wants to focus on Dahyun and Dahyun alone, but she can’t help how in her peripheral vision her eyes still catch a glimpse of red petals.

“Dahyun-ah..” She stares at the younger girl with apologetic eyes, “You know I can’t yet.. I’m sorry.”

Dahyun’s hopeful eyes dim a little when she speaks again, this time with a quieter tone, 

“It’s ok unnie.. at least I tried.”

“I’m really sorry, Dahyun-ah..” Sana replies apologetically and Dahyun finally let go of her hand.

And in that moment, Dahyun learns something new - that sometimes, even the bravest of soul has no chance of winning against a heart that’s secretly waiting for someone else.

Sana runs a corner when the cab stops a block away from their building. She is panting so hard when she finally reaches their station.

She really doesn’t know what she’s doing when she knocks on the Station Chief’s office, and when she hears Jihyo’s voice inviting her in, her sudden surge of bravery is momentarily tested. 

Yet she still pushes on and opens the door. 

Jihyo looks like she’s already preparing to leave. Her face quickly shifted into a worried expression when she notices that Sana is panting and her dark hair is filled with freckles of snow.

“Detective Minatozaki. What happened? Are you ok?” 

“Hey Chief..” Sana catches her breath, she’s still standing by the office door. 

“I just need to.. I just need to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Jihyo walks closer towards her.

“Why- Why do you send me roses every Valentines day?”

Jihyo halts on her steps immediately, and her already big eyes grow even wider.

“It’s from you isn’t it?” This time it’s now Sana who’s walking closer as she reveals the hand that she’s hiding on her back, the one that’s holding the bouquet of red roses.

“I saw you.. three Valentines ago putting it on my desk one morning.” Sana confesses, “..and ever since then, I always catch you doing it every year.. so why?” There is now only a meter of distance separating them when Sana stops walking and raises the bouquet between them. 

“Why Chief?” Sana's eyes are pleading, eager to get an honest response. 

Jihyo’s heart is already bursting inside her chest, and the adorable blush of red in Sana’s cheeks is only making it beat faster. “I-..” Jihyo gulps, “..I just think you deserve it, Detective Minatozaki.”

It is such a lame excuse and Jihyo internally curses herself for saying it, and for being such a coward even at a time like this. 

Sana’s nervous smile wavers a bit, but the senior detective surprisingly walks another step closer. She stares directly at Jihyo’s eyes when she speaks again, her tone more determined and hopeful.

“Then why did you kiss my forehead three years ago when we got drunk?” 

Jihyo is stunned and equally embarrassed realizing that Sana actually knows about it too. 

Her brain is already racking for a legitimate excuse when she feels Sana reaches for her hand.

“Is it because I deserve it too, Chief?” 

And it is only then, at the feeling of Sana’s gentle touch, that Jihyo stops to think, and the Station Chief finally allows her heart to take over.

Jihyo gulps nervously when she walks one step closer and raises their held hands. She presses a tender kiss on Sana’s knuckles, and the smile that instantly appears on the senior detective's lips is enough for Jihyo to brave forward-

“No.." Jihyo's smile is honest and sincere, "I kissed you because I like you.”

And in that moment, Sana learns something new - that sometimes, all it takes is one moment of bravery to finally get the answer to the one question that you’ve been meaning to ask for.

~~~

**_Maybe to love is to understand nothing, but to simultaneously crave the warmth of their hands on your skin, to recognize that there is no other person in this world whose embrace you would gladly run to. Maybe it’s to know their lips and know satisfaction. Maybe it’s pride and humility at the same time, because you were deemed worthy to share in blessed imperfection._ **

~~~

Mina carefully walks towards Jeongyeon’s work desk, and the Chief Detective shifts her glance from her computer screen when she notices that Mina is now standing in front of her desk.

“Hey, hon..” Mina comments shyly.

Jeongyeon then immediately stands up and walks around her desk in front of Mina.

“Hon, are you hungry now? Sorry, I’ll just wrap something up then we can finally go home and have dinner.”

“No.. no, I’m not yet hungry. It’s just..” Mina’s eyes shift nervously, and a full on flush of pink adorns her cheeks when she finally puts her hand in front of Jeongyeon and raises the bouquet of red roses that she’s been hiding.

“Happy Valentine’s day, honey.”

Mina greets her, with a shy smile grazing her lips and her eyes twinkle with adoration.

The chief detective is initially shocked yet she’s inexplicably delighted. It’s the first time that Mina has given her flowers because Jeongyeon is usually the one who does it. 

Instead, on special occasions Mina cooks for her or surprises her with any other customized gifts, but her ex-wife has never given her flowers before.

Maybe because ever since when they were still starting out as girlfriends, Jeongyeon has been very vocal that she doesn’t prefer flowers- she’d rather have cash as gift instead, she often jokes to Mina. And her girlfriend then just laughed at her. 

But now that Mina is standing right in front her, looking so adorable and shy while she’s offering her first ever bouquet to her ex-wife, Jeongyeon internally admits- it actually feels really good receiving beautiful sets of flowers from the one you love. It sure is a welcomed surprise.

Jeongyeon accepts the flowers with one hand and uses her other hand to pull Mina closer,

“Happy Valentine’s day too, honey.” She whispers close to her ex-wife’s face, as her hand supports Mina’s lower back.

Mina grins, her nervousness now finally easing out.

“Ask me what I’m doing.”

“What are you doing then?”

Mina raises her eyebrow and smirks coyly.

“I’m trying to get a date on Valentine’s day.”

Jeongyeon fondly laughs with how her ex-wife is trying to flirt with her tonight. So she didn’t back out and flirts back, “Now you ask me what I’m doing this time.”

“What are you doing, hon?” 

Mina replies, her eyes sparkle with anticipation.

Jeongyeon then leans closer so their noses finally touch. She stops just few inches away from Mina’s lips when she whispers teasingly, 

“I’m trying to kiss my date on Valentine’s day.”

“Honey...” Mina breathily replies sending warm airs on Jeongyeon’s mouth, “I need you to stop trying now.” 

And she finally leans in closing the distance between their lips, while Mina gently holds the back of Jeongyeon’s neck, as the chief detective deepens their kiss.

When they went home, Mina found out that Jeongyeon prepared a surprise candlelit dinner set up in their dining room. 

It’s a set up with red wine and cheese and Chinese take-outs because Jeongyeon didn’t have enough time to cook earlier due to their emergency work, and she remembered Mina mentioning about her dimsum cravings during their lunchtime.

It’s such a weird combination of meals but Mina thinks it’s perfect because Jeongyeon is with her. Being with Jeongyeon again is already enough for her, everything else is just icing on the cake.

Once their dinner is finished, Jeongyeon pulls out something under the table and Mina gasps on her ex-wife’s last surprise.

“You thought I forgot, didn’t you?”

A lopsided smile grazes the corner of Jeongyeon’s lips while she hands over the huge bouquet of flowers to Mina.

It’s a grand and stylish flower arrangement of a variety of daisies with a single fully bloomed blue iris situated in the middle.

“It’s beautiful.”

Mina gushes and her eyes sparkle with delight when she accepts the bouquet.

“It’s us.” Jeongyeon replies smiling.

She reaches over the table and points to the lone blue Iris in the middle of various daisies in different colors and sizes. “..and that’s me.”

“And surrounding me are my little daisies. Different versions of my Daisy to be exact.”

Jeongyeon then starts pointing to each of the daisies surrounding the iris.

“a happy Daisy.” She looks at her blushing ex-wife and grins, “a flustered Daisy.”

“a grumpy Daisy.”

“a hungry Daisy.”

“a Daisy in her period.”

“a sulking Daisy.”

“a touchy Daisy.”

“a whiny Daisy because she wants her daily dose of hugs and kisses from her Iris.”

“a thoughtful Daisy… a caring Daisy..”

Jeongyeon pauses and when she looks at Mina’s loving eyes, she suddenly feels the lump forming at the back of her throat again.

“..a very selfless Daisy..” Jeongyeon bites her lower lip to stop a tear from falling.

“..so selfless because she loves her Iris very much…”

Jeongyeon’s voice breaks a little and she feels a tear escaping from her eyes.

Mina worriedly stands up and walks across Jeongyeon’s seat.

“Honey what’s wrong?”

Jeongyeon gets Mina’s hand and puts her ex-wife’s palm on her cheek.

“I love you, Mina. I love you very much.”

Mina crouches down while she puts her other hand to now fully hold Jeongyeon’s face. She gently runs her thumbs on her cheeks to wipe her tears.

“I love you too, honey. I always have.”

Her ex-wife’s gentle touches and loving smile sends a calming effect on Jeongyeon’s heart. 

And after a few more soothing rubs of Mina’s thumbs on her face, Jeongyeon sniffles and requests softly,

“Will you dance with me tonight, hon?”

“Of course.” Mina replies with a fond stare and a beaming smile.

When the melodic slow piano intro of _Valentine_ plays softly through their home speaker, Jeongyeon holds her closer by the waist and Mina snakes her arms around her ex-wife’s neck. 

And with their foreheads pressed against each other, they slow dance to Track 08 in the middle of their living room, in front of their big wedding picture hanging on the wall, as their syncing hearts beat steadily with the lovely lyrics of the song.

After the first chorus ends and as the second verse starts, Jeongyeon lifts her one hand and cradles Mina’s jaw gently. She looks at her ex-wife lovingly while the song continues to serenade them in the background.

_You've opened my eyes_

_And shown me how to love unselfishly_

_I've dreamed of this a thousand times before_

_But in my dreams I couldn't love you more_

_I will give you my heart_

_Until the end of time_

_You're all I need, my love, my Valentine_

Mina slides her hand from Jeongyeon’s nape to the side of her neck. She meets Jeongyeon’s loving gaze and sings along to the following lines-

_And even if the sun refused to shine_

_Even if romance ran out of rhyme_

_You would still have my heart_

_Until the end of time_

_You're all I need, my love,_

_my Valentine~_

Jeongyeon couldn’t contain her emotions anymore so she tugs Mina closer and kisses her deeply. Mina returns the kiss with an equal amount of intensity, and they kiss passionately until the remaining of the song.

When they finally break the kiss to catch for some air, Mina’s languid eyes stares directly into Jeongyeon’s while she whispers her demand,

“Honey.. Make love with me tonight.”

Jeongyeon only lets out a small nod in response before their smiling lips meet again for another passionate kiss. 

Mina holds the back of Jeongyeon’s head to deepen their kiss, and their lips remain locked with each other’s while the chief detective carefully leads them to their bedroom.

As Jeongyeon lays her gently on the bed, Mina notices the way her ex-wife is looking down at her differently tonight. 

And through the mellow streaks of yellow lights above Jeongyeon’s head, Mina feels herself drowning deeper when their eyes meet. 

She’s drowning yet she’s easily breathing. She’s sinking deeper, deeper into the ocean of Jeongyeon’s loving gaze.

Jeongyeon leans in and kisses the side of Mina’s forehead, the part where a huge purple bruise was visible three years ago. The point of her nose is softly tracing along Mina’s face when she stops on her left cheek and plants another gentle kiss- a part of her ex-wife’s body where Jeongyeon remembers was also wounded before.

When she’s done planting healing kisses all over Mina’s face, Jeongyeon lifts her head to stare at her ex-wife again. 

Mina’s eyes are vulnerable and searching within her, her stare is loaded with so many questions when she raises her hand to cup Jeongyeon’s cheek, 

“Honey.. how?..”

Jeongyeon only replies back with a reassuring smile. She slips her fingers and run them along Mina’s soft hair, before she whispers in a tone laced with utmost gentleness.

“Let me take care of you tonight, hon.. let me take care of you every day.. every night.”

Mina just nods. And when Jeongyeon leans in again and swipes her tongue along Mina’s bottom lip, she opens her mouth almost instantly letting Jeongyeon in seamlessly. 

And when their tongues taste the sweetness of each other’s kiss again, Mina finally allows herself to drown completely.. deep into the liberating ocean of Jeongyeon’s love. 

That night, Jeongyeon holds her ever so delicately. She slips her hand inside Mina’s sweater, and the senior detective moans into Jeongyeon’s ear when the warmth of her palm softly traces the coldness of her skin.

When all their clothes have been discarded, Jeongyeon leans in and deeply kisses Mina’s lips again. Then she runs down her lips along her ex-wife’s neck, sucking and trailing her tongue along Mina’s collarbone, planting wet kisses to her chest, and biting her inner thighs gently. 

Jeongyeon kisses and licks every inch of her ex-wife’s already heated body, hoping and wanting to feel Mina being ultimately loved and worshipped.

It’s already several weeks since they’ve been reunited but for Mina, that night surreally feels like it’s the first time that their bare body is connecting again. 

There’s a fury of gentleness, raw desire, and protectiveness all rolled into one when Jeongyeon makes love to her that night. 

And under the warmth of Jeongyeon’s excited yet gentle touches, Mina feels all warm, safe and wanted. 

Jeongyeon gently lays over her again after she comes undone breathlessly. She smiles tenderly at Mina’s flushed face and softly whispers,

“I love you so much, Mina. I won’t let anyone ever hurt you anymore. Ever.”

And right in that moment, when she catches Jeongyeon’s loving eyes again after another passionate kiss, deep inside, deep within the corners of her heart- 

Mina feels that Jeongyeon already knows. 

~~~

**_Maybe love is the universe winking slyly, asking us, “What will you do with the good I give you?”_ **

~~~

The following weekend, Jeongyeon invites her to an overnight trip, the chief detective says that it’s their extended Valentines day celebration.

When Jeongyeon walks out of their bedroom on the morning of their trip, Mina couldn’t help but to let out an amused laugh - the chief detective is don with a yellow beanie, a blue scarf, a green shawl, and a pair of red mittens. 

It’s all of the things that Mina has knitted before in prison, but she completed them on different weeks hence the variety of colors. Yet Jeongyeon wears them all confidently with a proud adorable smile on her face.

“Hon.. are you that cold?”

Jeongyeon walks closer to her smiling widely,

“Not really.”

“Then why are you wearing all of that now? You do know, just the scarf and mittens would be enough for you.”

Jeongyeon pouts, “Why? You don’t like me wearing them?”

Mina shakes her head smiling, “No, that’s not what I meant, it’s just..” she clears her throat and fixes Jeongyeon’s beanie, “..it’s just you look like a Christmas tree wearing all of that.”

And when Mina softly laughs again while looking at her mismatched outfit, Jeongyeon just smiles lopsidedly when she replies, 

“I’m glad this Christmas tree can make you laugh then.”

Mina’s heart swells with love and adoration for her ex-wife upon hearing it. So she pulls Jeongyeon’s scarf and kisses her deeply.

“What’s that for?” Jeongyeon smiles after they kiss.

Mina raises a brow, “To light up the Christmas tree.”

“Can you try lighting it again? I think I busted a bulb.”

And the soft laughter of Mina in the morning is the music that Jeongyeon hears, when she closes her eyes again for another sweet and gentle kiss.

Jeongyeon brings Mina to a lighthouse because she knows that her ex-wife misses the sea. It’s extremely freezing at the top of the lighthouse, so Jeongyeon goes behind Mina and envelops her ex-wife inside her huge winter coat. 

Mina’s covered hands are holding the lighthouse railings while Jeongyeon embraces her from behind. 

Despite the other layers of clothing, and the freezing ocean breeze that’s caressing their faces, Jeongyeon’s comfortable embrace has made Mina’s heart and body feels all warm and fuzzy.

And when the sun is beginning to set across the horizon, as the sky breaks into velvety hues of pink, orange and yellow, reflecting beautifully onto the vast blue ocean beneath them, Mina drops a tear and whispers softly, 

“Honey.. I think I’m ready now.” 

Jeongyeon tightens her embrace and kisses the side of Mina’s head.

“Ok. I love you, honey.”

And there at the top of the lighthouse, Mina breaks down for one last time when she finally tells the whole story to Jeongyeon. 

And for each tear that slides down her cheek, Jeongyeon is there to wipe it.

And for each sob that Mina lets out, Jeongyeon is there to hug her tight.

And as the sun finally sets, and the darkness engulfs between them, the burden in Mina’s heart slowly dissipates for each kiss and each hug that Jeongyeon gives her.

And like the lighthouse that finally flashes its light to guide sailors and fishermen amidst the darkness, Mina finds herself again. 

She finds the scattered and worn out pieces of herself, because Jeongyeon’s faithful and undying light is there to guide her.

Jeongyeon is there to guide Mina’s heart. Guiding her back home. 

Back where she truly belongs.

~~~

**_Maybe love is already here, is already now, and we must take the plunge without knowing how deep the water is because love, when it is genuine, always saves._ **

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 08: Valentine by Martina McBride
> 
> Next Chapter: The action picks up again
> 
> Firstly, at this point of the story, I’m curious- has any reader finally figured out the secret message to _For My Daisy_ (JeongMi’s playlist)? The playlist that Jeongyeon gave Mina in Chapter 1? 
> 
> If you think you figure it out, please do not comment what exactly it is about so other readers can discover it out on their own. LOL. Just maybe guess the next track? It's actually fairly easy. lol.
> 
> Lastly, the scattered love quotes are not mine. It’s from one of my favorite [TC articles](https://thoughtcatalog.com/jamie-delos-reyes/2013/08/16-things-that-love-is-maybe/)  
> Please read it. It’s such a beautiful piece of writing. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter! 
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	9. Track 09: Everything [M]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The villains have amped up their evil plans so Station Chief Park is forced to finally pull out her secret weapon.
> 
> a.k.a. Upgraded ELITE SQUAD ASSEMBLE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this got delayed, i was sick over the weekend.. anyways, this is the Penultimate Chapter. I hope you enjoy it.  
> P.S. Minor readers please skip the M scene. And to readers uncomfortable about it too, please skip it too. Just don’t read it.

*****

**Summer. Five years ago. KAIST University.**

It’s already fifteen minutes past lunchtime when Mina has finally finished her entire speech including the extended Q&A portion. 

As a renowned Senior Detective in SMPA, Mina was invited to be a special speaker for the annual university symposium that summer weekend - since the topic for that year involves Cyber Security, which is her expertise. 

Students and professors alike are already leaving the large auditorium for a one-hour break, and Mina is standing on the corner side of the podium, carefully preparing her things so she could go straight to her lunch date with her wife.

“That was a great talk Detective. I learned a lot from it.”

Mina pauses on arranging her files and turns around when she hears a low voice speaking from behind. 

“I’m Professor Lee from the College of Engineering. Please to meet you, Detective.” 

The grey-haired professor offers his hand with a kind smile, and Mina accepted it warmly.

“Senior Detective Myoui Mina from SMPA. Please to meet you too, Professor Lee.”

Mina returns back the welcoming smile from the kind professor, before her gaze shifts down to his side when a little girl in bright yellow dress emerges from behind, her little arm clinging tightly around the teacher’s leg.

“Oh, and this is my daughter, Yeji. Lee Yeji.”

Mina crouches down to level with the little girl and stretches out her hand.

“Hi Yeji. I’m Detective Myoui Mina. But you can call me _unnie_ if you want.” 

Yeji looks up to the professor with excited eyes,

“Can I shake her hand Papa?”

The professor encourages her daughter and just nods warmly. Yeji releases her hold from her father and accepts the handshake using both of her little hands. The little girl shakes Mina’s hand rather excitedly and the senior detective just lets her.

“Yeji was actually the one who requested me to approach you, Detective. She wants your signature.”

“My signature? Why do you want my signature Yeji-yah?” 

Mina smiles gummily, she’s still holding Yeji’s hand.

“I want to be like you, unnie.” Yeji’s bright innocent smile is blinding. “You’re a superhero. You catch bad guys. I want to be like you when I grow up. I want to catch bad guys too.”

Mina then hears the proud fatherly laughter from the professor when the smart little girl starts to bombard her with questions about her line of work. 

Yeji is surprisingly overly smart for a six-year old girl, and Mina patiently answered each of Yeji’s questions with crafted words and phrases suitable enough for innocent kids of her age. 

“Unnie, is it true that you use code names when you go to missions?” 

Yeji asks Mina, her tone is chirpy and giddy while she sways her hold on the senior detective’s hand. They just exited the auditorium and are now walking briskly along the university’s hallway.

“Yes, Yeji-yah. We use code names when we do missions.”

Yeji stops and tugs Mina’s hand, forcing the senior detective to pause on her tracks too. The little girl’s eyes are now curiously shining, 

“What’s your code name then, unnie?”

“Yeji-yah, Detectives are not supposed to tell anyone their code names. It’s a top secret for them.”

The professor scolds her daughter’s over-the-line curiosity. 

“It’s ok, Professor.” Mina nods at him before she crouches down again. She stares at the little girl kindly and answers with a reassuring smile.

“Detectives’ code names vary per squad. For our squad, we use Flowers.”

“I love flowers!” Yeji exclaims, her milky teeth showing beautifully with her wide open smile.

“What’s your code name then, unnie?” 

Mina giggles at the curious child’s persistence, and the professor subtly signals to her to just let the prying question slide. But Mina is already developing a certain fondness towards the little girl.

“If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else?”

“Yes, unnie. I promise.” The little girl nods her head excitedly.

Mina then leans closer towards Yeji’s small ear and whispers, 

“ _Daisy._ My code name’s Daisy.” 

Yeji’s eyes instantly sparkle with joy after hearing it, as if she’s just been gifted her favorite doll house during Christmas eve. But this is more than a grand shiny pink gift for the little girl. It’s her most precious secret from now on.

She hugs Mina and whispers back into the senior detective’s ear- the newfound secret she just heard is already carving a treasured and guarded space inside Yeji’s innocent heart.

“Daisy-unnie..” The little girl smiles in between her whispers and Mina hugs her even closer. 

“I’ll join your squad too when I grow up. Will you wait for me?”

Mina’s smile is tender and sincere, she caresses Yeji’s hair gently.

“Of course, Yeji-yah. Me and my squad will wait for you. So you have to be a good girl always, ok?”

With her gentle hold on the little girl’s head, Mina feels Yeji nodding to her question, and the standing professor just continues to quietly stare down at them with fond fatherly eyes.

And that was the first time Mina has met Yeji. 

They never meet again until after two years when Yeji gets to be involved as a witness in a kidnapping and murder case of a junior KAIST student. A top university female student who was close with the adored father and daughter duo within their college department.

Mina met Yeji again in a safehouse, with Jeongyeon by her side, and the little girl clinging desperately onto the chief detective’s leg.

And when she sees Mina again for the first time in two years, standing outside their safehouse porch, Yeji’s traumatic eyes is slowly splashed with hope and colors of life again.

“Mina-unnie?” The little girl can’t believe what she’s seeing.

Mina smiles fondly, “Yes it’s me, Yeji-yah.” She crouches down and stretches out her hand. Yeji quickly takes them. “Did you keep my secret?”

The little girl only nods, but her hold on Mina’s hand tightens - gripping hard for the other source of safety that she has found in that safehouse, far away from her father’s home. 

“But I have more secrets now, unnie..”

Yeji’s eyes are scared so Mina pulls her in for a comforting hug.

“It’s ok, Yeji-yah..” Mina softly caresses the little girl’s back. 

“You can share your secrets to me too. I’ll protect them too.”

Mina hears Yeji quietly sobbing. 

“I missed you, Daisy-unnie.”

“I miss you, too.”

*****

**Present time. SMPA - Special Operations Unit Station.**

“Ji!!!” Mina almost shouted after closing the Station Chief’s office door in a hurry.

“I have a shocking news for you.” The senior detective exclaims as soon as she sits in front of Jihyo’s desk.

Jihyo just squints at her friend while she sips her morning coffee.

“What is it? What did Jeong do this time?”

“No. it’s not Jeong.” Mina’s eyes are wide and bewildered, “Dahyun updated me that she was rejected the other day. Apparently..” she leans closer towards her friend. “Sana is in love with somebody else!”

Jihyo chokes on her coffee and coughs consecutively as soon as Mina blurted that one out. She spilled some on her shirt and accidentally gulps more drops of her hot drink, burning her tongue in the process.

“Do you have any idea who it is? Dahyun doesn’t know about her too. Sana didn’t say who the girl is.” Mina sighs and she looks defeated. “Just when I thought you can finally confess to her now..”

“I..-” Jihyo doesn’t know whether to put her coffee down or to wipe off the spilled drink on her shirt.

“Why do you wanna know?” 

“Don’t you wanna know?” Mina eyed her curiously.

As much as the Station Chief wants to immediately share to her best friends the recent development that happened to her love life, Jihyo would like to keep it a secret for now. 

Mainly because she’s still brewing up a plan to officially ask Sana to be her girlfriend. And her plans might be ruined because Jeongyeon and Mina are the types who love to torture and tease her endlessly especially when it comes to her love life. 

Most especially if they find out that the girl she’s been secretly in love with for the past years, apparently likes her back too. 

It’s going to be a disaster in the making the moment Jeongyeon and Mina discover that, and Jihyo wouldn’t like it. She wants the best proposal for Sana, for the girl of her dreams. 

So it is only after Sana has finally agreed to be her girlfriend that she’s going to break the news to her best friends.

The Station Chief is extremely detailed and organized like that- she has to ensure that her plan is perfectly laid out and crafted before she makes her initial move.

“I respect her privacy.” 

Jihyo replies nonchalantly. But she’s already internally praying to the gods that Mina would stop bothering her or else her friend would eventually read through her cool exterior.

“There’s something different about you, Ji..” 

Mina’s judging eyes are now making Jihyo internally panic.

Jihyo subtly evades her friend’s stare while pretending to search for something. 

“Where is that damn tissue..”

Mina gets the tissue box and puts it in front of Jihyo. The Station Chief quickly gets a bunch and absentmindedly wipes them off across her shirt, even on the area without coffee stains. 

The senior detective quietly observes her flustered friend with a knowing smile and contented eyes.

“Our Rose looks blooming today, isn’t she?” 

Mina teases her friend, she feels like she already knows what’s going on. After all, she’s been friends with Jihyo for more than a decade now.

Jihyo clears her throat, “Perhaps there’s something wrong with your eyes, Daisy. I always look blooming.”

But Mina just rolls her eyes and flashes a teasing grin at Jihyo, 

“So tell me.. did Sana g-”

Then Jihyo’s phone rings loudly and she couldn’t be any more grateful for the perfect timing.

“Hello?” 

_“Hi, Chief.”_ It’s Sana, and Jihyo quickly looks at Mina- her friend is still eyeing her curiously.

“Yes?” Jihyo cautiously replies, aware of her friend’s calculating stare on her.

_“I just want to confirm if you’re still free for our dinner later?”_

“Yes.” Jihyo replies curtly but she notices that Mina is still looking at her so speaks on the phone again. “Is that all?”

_“uhm…”_

“Hello?” Jihyo’s brow squints. “Are you ok?” 

“ _No.. Chief..”_

“What’s wrong?” Jihyo’s voice now hints a worried tone and it doesn’t escape Mina’s observant ears. "Hello? Are you ok?"

“ _I’m not ok because I miss you._ ”

Jihyo abruptly stands up from her chair and quickly turns her back around from her friend to hide her blushing face.

Mina is startled by Jihyo’s motion so she stands up too and asks her friend worriedly,

“Ji what happened? Is everything alright?”

The Station Chief covers her phone mic and motions to her friend,

“Sorry Mina, I just- I need to talk to this person alone.”

“Who is it?” 

“Someone important.”

“Then who is it?”

“It’s confidential information. Sorry, Mina I really need some privacy right now.”

Mina squints, “Sure, Ji. Tell me if there’s anything I could help you with, ok?”

The senior detective eventually exited the office room giving her friend her much needed privacy. 

But Mina actually closes the office door with a gummy smile on her lips after noticing the beet red blush on her friend’s obviously flustered face.

*****

After her _talk_ with her friend, Mina had a hunch so she immediately confided to Jeongyeon about it. 

The Chief Detective quickly agreed with her ex-wife when she realizes that Jihyo has been declining her offer to have a quick unwinding session at Handong’s bar for the past two weeks already.

And when Jeongyeon invited her own squad, Sana also couldn’t make it. She always declines Jeongyeon’s invitation despite the chief detective offering her free bulgogi and unlimited nachos.

It’s the first time that Sana has rejected free bulgogi offers consecutively so Jeongyeon thinks something must be really up, her ex-wife must be right with her assessment. 

And so one uneventful afternoon, the couple corners Jihyo inside her office and interrogates their friend to no end. But the Station Chief is not falling for their tactics -

“You two! I can’t believe I’d rather see you making out now in my office than pestering me about this.”

Jihyo replies annoyed when Jeongyeon and Mina continue to bombard her with questions.

After hearing it, Jeongyeon immediately smirks and she finds Mina’s waist and squeeze it,

“Really, Ji? Are we allowed to make out now in the station?”

“Oh shush.” Mina holds back her giggle because Jeongyeon is subtly tickling her side.

“Ji, come on! it’s already obvio- Honey..wait..ohh.. it tickles.. wait.. _*giggles*_.”

Jihyo squints at the flirting couple in front of her and shakes her head,

“Oh god. Why am I friends with you two again?”

Mina taps Jeongyeon’s naughty hand on her side and re-focuses on her friend,

“Come on Ji, it’s already obvious. We just want a confirmation from you.”

“Handong’s bar later after work. You, Mina and me. Just like the old times. You have to tell us every single detail.” Jeongyeon declares and commands to her superior.

Jihyo snickers unbelievably, “I can’t tonight.”

Mina raises her brow knowingly, “And why is that?”

Jihyo blandly replies, trying her best not to blush,

“I have an appointment.”

“Appointment with whom?” Jeongyeon presses on.

Jihyo shifts her stare between the anticipating couple in front of her and she almost jumps from her seat when her phone rings loudly again. She internally panics because what if it’s Sana again, but she picks it up nonetheless-

“Hello?”

Jeongyeon eyes Jihyo suspiciously as the Station Chief continues to reply only brief answers to the phone.

 _“Who is it?”_ The chief detective quietly mouths to Jihyo, but the Station Chief just motions for her to behave.

When they notice that the phone call is about to end, Mina shoots a knowing look to her ex-wife and Jeongyeon quickly snatches the phone from Jihyo’s hand.

“Hey Minatozaki!” Jeongyeon speaks over the phone.

_“Why are you shouting?”_ Jeongyeon squints after hearing a man’s voice. 

A panic quickly rushes within her when she looks at the caller ID and the General’s name registers on the screen.

Jihyo couldn’t hold back her laughter as soon as she ends the call, and Mina immediately follows suit because Jeongyeon is looking so guilty and adorable after her major blunder earlier.

“I can’t believe you’re laughing at me too, honey.” Jeongyeon pouts to her ex-wife.

“I’m sorry hon-” Mina is still laughing and holding her stomach. “That was just hilarious, I’m sorry.”

She pinches Jeongyeon’s cheeks and places a peck on her lips,

“You’re just too cute, I’m sorry for laughing.”

Jeongyeon smiles lopsidedly and holds Mina’s face too. Her heart always feels elated whenever she hears Mina’s laughter, 

“It’s ok honey. At least you still find me cute.”

The couple has always been not shy to show their affections to each other in front of Jihyo. In fact, it is only with Jihyo that they can openly do their PDAs. 

And as much as the Station Chief would like to cringe at those cheesy skinships, she never really dislikes them. In fact, Jihyo actually feels happy deep inside whenever her friends do this.

Mainly because it’s Jeongyeon and Mina - and there’s no other person in the world who deeply knows what kind of sufferings the couple had to endure through the years, except Jihyo herself. 

So staring back at her two closest friends now, as Mina lovingly arranges some of Jeongyeon’s loose hair strands, Jihyo fondly smiles at them and speaks affirmatively,

“Ok ok I give in. Whatever it is you’re thinking, you both are right.”

The couple quickly glances her way and Mina’s gummy smile is so bright when she holds Jihyo’s hands and exclaims,

“I’m so happy for you, Ji!”

Jeongyeon too is smiling so widely when she leans closer and asks Jihyo,

“So Sana is your girlfriend now?”

“What?!” Jihyo quickly shakes her head, “No, not yet. Wait that’s what you two are thin-”

“AHA I won! Honey, you get to wash the dishes for 1 week.”

Jeongyeon is smiling cockily when she proudly announces it to her ex-wife. Mina is pouting after realizing she just lost.

“You bet on me?!!”

Jihyo couldn’t believe what just happened and she feels betrayed. 

And so she delays telling the entire story to her best friends as a punishment.

*****

In the beginning of spring, Jeongyeon, Mina, and Jihyo all stared into their wide pantry television screen with furious raging stares and gritted teeth after the nationwide announcement has been broadcasted –

The Mayor of Seoul is running for Presidency in the coming election.

And the entire country is celebrating. 

Because their beloved kind-hearted “ _Mayor for all people”_ will finally have a chance to rule the nation.

An ordinary citizen is currently being interviewed now, and her eyes are all hopeful and proud when she explains how wonderful the Mayor’s policies were, and how he is such a perfect fit to be the next President.

Jeongyeon slams the pantry table hard, and Mina quickly rubs her ex-wife’s back to calm her down.

Jihyo isn’t surprised by the turn of events, and she only lets out a frustrated bitter laugh with the unfairness of it all.

Shortly after that, when she finally manages to put her raging emotions in check, Jihyo goes inside her office and secretly phones someone. The other person answers on the fifth ring.

“Yes?”

“It’s Rose.”

A long silent ensues and Jihyo can only hear calculated footsteps on a pavement road, then the rustling and crackling of dried leaves, and then finally the walking stops and the other person speaks again.

“Sup, Chief.”

“Don’t call me that, it’s dangerous.”

“Sup, Rose.”

“You alright there, Tiger?”

“Of course not, the men here all stink.” _Tiger_ sighs before she speaks again.

“Why did you call?”

“It’s time. Do you think you’ve gathered enough already?”

_Tiger_ scoffs and answers cockily, mimicking the way her detective mentor speaks. 

“Yeah of course. But I need someone to get it from me. You know I can’t deliver it to you there.” 

“I’ll send someone there.”

_Tiger_ smiles, her adorable dimples now showing across her small pretty face.

“Are you finally going to release me in this mission, Rose?”

“Soon. We need to get your evidences first.”

_Tiger_ is ok with ‘soon’. She’s been on this undercover mission for almost three years already- she can manage to wait for a bit more. She finally gets a different answer from the Chief today so she can deal with _soon,_ it’s better than ‘not yet’ _._

To encourage _Tiger_ more, Jihyo replies with an information that would surely put an excited smile to the younger agent’s face- 

“I’m sending Iris there.”

And true enough, _Tiger_ becomes giddy at the mere mention of her first mentor’s code name.

“and Daisy too. I’m sending them both there.” Jihyo added.

“They’re back together?? Since when?” 

Jihyo snickers, “Since last December. You can catch up with them once you see each other again.”

“Can’t wait.” _Tiger_ ’s smile is dripping with excitement and longing at the mere thought of finally meeting her fellow detectives, much more her favorite couple. 

It’s been years and despite her carefree personality, sometimes it sucks the life out of her by being with disgusting criminals 24/7.

“I need you to urgently plan a retrieval and undercover operation, then send me the details tomorrow so I can brief Iris and Daisy, ok?”

“Roger that.” _Tiger_ chirps excitedly. She can’t wait to meet her mentor again.

“Tiger.”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve worked hard.” Jihyo’s tone is warm and proud but is laced with concern for her younger friend.

_Tiger_ huffs cockily, “Small things.”

“Just like you?” Jihyo tries to tease. _Tiger_ has always been fun and easy to talk to. 

“Hey that’s foul! And you’re not so big yourself!”

Jihyo just laughs at the offended secret agent before she replies again with a warm and caring tone,

“Be careful there, ok?”

“Always am, Rose.”

“I’ll have Iris send you some strawberries.”

“Not less than 5kgs or I’m aborting this mission.” _Tiger_ teases back, and they laugh for some more before they finally end the call.

*****

When Jihyo has received the detailed plan from _Tiger_ fifteen hours after their call, the Station Chief has briefed Jeongyeon and Mina to execute the mission.

Jihyo didn’t immediately disclose the true identity of the secret agent to the couple.

_“You’ll know who she is once you see her. She’s excited to see you two.”_

But Jihyo isn’t so slick because when the Station Chief requested them to bring strawberries, Jeongyeon and Mina quickly deduces who she is. 

The Chief Detective’s excitement is off the roof knowing that she’s finally going to meet again her favorite protégé from the other unit.

That weekend, the couple flies to Jeju and as per Tiger’s instructions they disguised as ignorant Japanese college students flocking around a famous tourist spot. 

And still according to plan, the undercover couple is eventually abducted that night in their rented AirBnb room and is now being secretly transported somewhere.

“Honey..” Mina calls out to Jeongyeon in whispered tone. She’s now awake after drinking the antidote against the _date-rape drug_ that has been forcefully feed to them. 

She also transferred some to her ex-wife by kissing her since their hands are both tied. The couple is now inside a huge covered truck with three other unconscious young female western tourists lying on the other side.

Jeongyeon eventually rouses awake, 

“Hon.. are you ok?”

“I’m ok. Hon, I need you to get the other medicines from me. I can’t reach them because my hands and back are tied. Those girls need to drink them asap or else their hearts will suffer. The dosage that they gave to us is higher than I expected.”

It’s fortunate for them that the abductors were in a hurry earlier and they forgot to tie Jeongyeon’s back securely. So the chief detective has managed to eventually free herself, except for her tied hands behind which were covered and locked in chains.

“Ok, where are the medicines?” Jeongyeon moves closer to Mina.

“I’ve hidden the rest on my left thigh. Can you retrieve it?”

Jeongyeon nods and she immediately goes under Mina’s skirt. Of course that’s her initial instinct- to retrieve the medicine using her mouth and not her feet.

Mina is surprised by Jeongyeon’s swift movement. But she’s even more flustered when her ex-wife is just taking her sweet time sniffing her leg under her skirt.

“Honey.. you have to go higher..” Mina is holding back her moan because Jeongyeon’s warm breath is ticklish. 

“Where is it? I can’t find it.”

“I told you it’s the left thigh not the right.”

“Oh sorry.” So Jeongyeon quickly shifts to focus on Mina’s left leg, where the miniature vials are supposed to be hidden.

“Can you not.. bite me there.”

Mina can’t properly think right now with Jeongyeon’s lips and warm breath ghosting on her inner thigh. She knows it’s not the perfect situation to suddenly think of dirty thoughts but she can’t help herself.

“I’m not biting you. I’m struggling here. It’s dark here you know.”

Jeongyeon replies smirking. Of course she’s just teasing her ex-wife. It excites her more because Mina’s skin is already heated, an indication that her ex-wife is already aroused.

“Honey..” Mina breathes and tries to collect her thoughts, “You should go higher.. It isn’t hard to find them it’s just right-”

Then the truck passes by multiple speed bumps and Jeongyeon’s head is accidentally and dangerously repositioned in between Mina’s legs. So then of course, the playful chief detective takes this opportunity to kiss and suck on it gently.

“Did you just moan?” The proud smile on Jeongyeon’s lips is devilishly naughty after hearing Mina’s restraint breathy moans. 

She knows she should stop teasing her ex-wife now but she can’t help it. She’s having fun. The chief detective always finds time to have fun even in the middle of dangerous missions.

“Honey.. I’m really gonna strangle you when we go home.” Mina is having a hard time controlling her already awakened urges. “Can you.. can you please hurry?” 

Mina is now biting her bottom lip to stop herself from releasing another moan because Jeongyeon is still licking and sucking her inner thighs.

So before she loses to the temptation, Mina closes her legs and tries to pin Jeongyeon’s head between them to stop her ex-wife’s naughty deeds. 

It startles the Chief Detective so she eventually gave in and finally retrieves the medicines that are fastened securely around her ex-wife’s left thigh.

When the truck finally stopped upon reaching their destination, the couple pretended to be asleep again and they were eventually brought to the head of the prostitution ring. He assessed that the two _Japanese tourists_ are of _“high value”_ so he let his main henchman _clean_ them.

It is then when they finally meet _Tiger,_ and Jeongyeon and Mina couldn’t be any happier to meet her again after nearly four years. They catch up for a bit before they go straight to their mission, and Tiger gives Mina access to their private database. 

Tiger also gives them all hard copies and other evidences that she has gathered throughout her stay as an undercover agent. The evidences include but not limited to all the other illegal sites and operations that the Mayor and his allies have been managing for the past decades.

When they are about to transport all the new female captives to Europe the morning after, _Tiger_ helped the detective couple escape. And before they part ways, Jeongyeon pulls her in for a tight embrace.

“It’s really good to see you again, unnie. I’ve missed you.” _Tiger_ double taps her mentor’s back.

Jeongyeon ruffles the younger agent’s blonde hair and replies proudly,

“I miss you too, Chaeng. Stay alive. I’ll treat you when this is all over.”

Mina walks closer to them and also pats Chaeyoung’s head.

“You’ve worked hard, Chaeng. We’re proud of you.”

Chaeyoung smiles brightly, her adorable dimples showing- now suddenly looking like that quick-witted and carefree rookie detective that the couple has come to adore and cherish in the years that come.

Her beaming smile is warm and infectious-

“Small things.”

*****

After their successful operation, the couple went straight home and Mina dragged herself towards their master’s bedroom as soon as she stepped into her fluffy penguin slippers. Jeongyeon quickly follows her, also wearing her own pair of cute puppy home slippers.

“I’m taking a shower first.” Mina announces with a tired voice while she pulls out her pajamas from their closet. 

She feels that her exhausted body is already screaming for a refreshing bubble bath after all of the running and escaping that they have done for the past days.

“Mind if I join you, love?” Jeongyeon leans into one of the closet doors, her tone is playful and her smiling eyes are teasing.

Mina is about to nod and agree but then she remembers the suffering that she had to endure the other day due to her ex-wife’s maddening ploy, so she raises one of her eyebrows and just replies simply, “No.” 

She refuses to fall for her ex-wife’s bait as a revenge. 

_It’s your turn to suffer this time, honey-_ Is the thought that runs on Mina’s brain when she replaces her pajamas for a pair of her favorite red nightwear. 

A tested and already proven trick is already brewing inside Mina’s head.

“You sure, honey? I’ll scrub your back. I’m a good scrubber.” 

Jeongyeon smirks knowingly. Despite her body feeling a bit tired, she still has some energy left to do some other _stuff_.

Mina just smiles. She places a quick peck on Jeongyeon’s cheek and starts walking towards their ensuite bathroom. 

When she reaches the door, she turns around and speaks in a sultry and challenging tone, a dangerous smirk already playing on her lips-

“Honey, I might take long. You should sleep first. You look super exhausted.”

Jeongyeon didn’t reply and she just watches Mina close their bathroom door. Her ex-wife’s tone and smirk alone has already got her so excited. 

She surely knows that tone of Mina, and she’s not the one to back out from a challenge.

After roughly about forty minutes, Mina finally emerges from their bathroom wearing her sexy red nightwear, but the senior detective is startled when Jeongyeon quickly grabs her by the arms and pushes her gently on their bedroom wall. 

“Honey, are you mad?” Jeongyeon breathes out, her lips ghosting a few inches away from Mina’s lips. 

Her hair is already wet and the sweet minty scent from her warm breath is making Mina crave for a taste. Jeongyeon must have showered in their living room toilet while Mina is also taking hers.

“What if I am?” Mina replies breathily while staring intensely at Jeongyeon’s eyes, her fingers are already tracing the outline of Jeongyeon’s sharp jaw. 

“What are you gonna do then?”

“What do you want me to do?” Jeongyeon leans closer while her right hand is now sneakily making its way inside Mina’s nightwear, gently stroking the smooth skin of Mina’s stomach.

Mina hisses and licks Jeongyeon’s bottom lip teasingly. But when Jeongyeon finally lunges forward and tries to fully kiss her ex-wife, Mina evades it quickly and pulls Jeongyeon’s head towards her neck instead- the intoxicating heavenly scent floods Jeongyeon’s senses all at once, ultimately igniting her already aroused state to an all-time high.

Mina uses her _special_ body wash again- the one that drives Jeongyeon madly insane. 

The one that makes her eat and suck every inch of her ex-wife’s body because the smell is divine and it leaves Mina’s skin extra soft and more scrumptious- that Jeongyeon can’t get enough.

So Jeongyeon couldn’t help but to dip a taste as she sucks on the side of her ex-wife’s neck. A breathy moan immediately escapes from Mina’s lips and she tilts her head to the side giving Jeongyeon more access.

“You’re trying to torture me tonight, aren’t you?” Jeongyeon whispers while running her wet tongue along Mina’s neck to the side of her ear.

Mina gasps, “Well.. you torture me the other day, honey..” Her breath hitches when Jeongyeon’s hand inside her shirt starts to trail upwards, “I think.. I think it’s just fair to get even.”

Jeongyeon then lifts her head and stares into her ex-wife’s deeply lustful eyes, she smirks when Mina lets out a deep breathy moan once her hand has finally captured her ex-wife’s breast. 

Mina hisses and demands urgently, she’s had enough of the teasing. “Do it.” 

So Jeongyeon didn’t waste any more second when she swiftly kneels and tucks her head inside Mina’s loose nightwear. 

Mina holds Jeongyeon’s head over the silky cloth while the chief detective pleasures her breast under her nightwear. The warm sensation of Jeongyeon’s wet tongue playfully sliding around her already aroused and hard bud is sending multiple electric jolts on Mina’s extremely heated body.

And when Jeongyeon sucks on it again while encircling her tongue rapidly around it, the intense sensation triggers another loud sinful moan from Mina, so she quickly undresses herself because she wants to see Jeongyeon pleasuring her. 

But when Mina’s nightwear has finally fallen off the floor, she’s greeted with a smirking Jeongyeon already staring at her directly- her eyes are shiny and livid while she teasingly licks and sucks her ex-wife’s breast. 

So Mina couldn’t take it any longer and lifts Jeongyeon up to pull her in for a needy passionate kiss.

Jeongyeon hungrily kisses her back, their tongues wildly tasting each other’s mouth while they hurriedly walk and fall back into their king-sized bed together.

“God honey you taste so good.” Jeongyeon breathily whispers on top of Mina.

Mina hisses and kisses Jeongyeon again,

“Then eat me.. devour me. do what you want with me, honey. I’m all yours tonight.” 

She demands while still biting Jeongyeon’s bottom lip.

So Jeongyeon did, and she quickly dives in between Mina’s chest, licking the area until her wet tongue grazes the younger’s collarbone where Jeongyeon plants a soft bite that turns into a pleasurable sucking. 

Mina groans when Jeongyeon’s teeth sink deeper into her flesh, and the chief detective is quick to slowly lick the red mark to soothe the skin.

Mina then raises Jeongyeon’s shirt and demands, 

“Take this off, honey. I wanna feel you naked.”

Jeongyeon swiftly obeys and Mina needily tugs her close and kisses her again as soon as all of their clothes have been thrown out on the floor.

“I love you so much, honey.” Jeongyeon whispers on Mina’s lips when they try to catch for some air.

“I love you too...” Mina pants heavily, her face is deeply red and flushed of intense desire. “I love you so much, Jeongyeon.”

Jeongyeon smiles, “Well I love you more.” And she lunges forward again to capture Mina’s lips.

The chief detective then starts to plant hungry wet kisses on Mina’s body, marking almost every soft and sumptuous white skin that her lips can touch as she goes- letting the intoxicating scent of Mina’s skin invade her already heightened senses. 

When Mina’s body is already marked with fresh red bites, Jeongyeon then proceeds to taste the length of Mina’s legs and thighs, kissing and biting every inch of the skin gently while her tongue trails higher and higher- slowly towards Mina’s anticipating heated core.

Mina can’t help but let out a soft yet needy whimper when Jeongyeon finally manages to reach the area in between her legs and the chief detective brushes her lips against her already dripping core.

“Honey please… I need you now.” 

Mina’s voice is impatient and needy, her breathy tone laced with lustful desperation.

And it’s the only cue that Jeongyeon needs before she slowly drags her hot tongue along Mina’s wetness, and the sinful sexy deep moans that Mina immediately lets out is all music to Jeongyeon’s ears.

Mina’s back arches and her hips jerk due to the sudden surge of pleasure when Jeongyeon continues to lick and devour her folds like crazy. 

She grasps a handful of Jeongyeon’s hair to hold her in place, while Mina rides along to the movement of Jeongyeon’s tongue inside her.

“Ohhh honey.. keep going.. ohhh.. Jeongyeon.. right there.. yesss..”

When Jeongyeon feels that Mina is not going to last any longer, she finds Mina’s hand and intertwines their fingers together. Jeongyeon wraps her lips around Mina’s core, sucking and drinking it gently as she continues to roll and slides her tongue up and down. The intense sensation is setting Mina’s body ablaze and is rapidly delivering her to a full on ecstasy. 

“Jeongyeon-ahh… ooh Jeongyeon… I’m gonna..” 

When Mina finally reaches her high, Jeongyeon smiles in between her legs and stares at Mina intently. 

She savours on the sinful yet divine sight of Mina heaving breathlessly, and Jeongyeon’s heart leaps with pride and joy when Mina screams her name continuously in between her melodic moans.

Once Mina’s breathing becomes even and calmer, she looks down on Jeongyeon and fondly smiles at her ex-wife. The chief detective places a one last gentle kiss on her core before she carefully moves and lays herself beside Mina.

Mina’s flushed and glowing face is always a precious and treasured memory for Jeongyeon, she’ll never get tired of witnessing it. 

She gently threads Mina’s disheveled soft blonde hair and places a quick peck on her ex-wife’s lips.

“You are so beautiful, Mina. I love you.”

Mina smiles back at her lovingly, “I love you too, Jeongyeon.” she lifts her hands and holds Jeongyeon’s face with utmost gentleness, “..so much. I love you so much.”

The smile that appears on Jeongyeon’s lips is just as loving, she wraps her arms around Mina and snuggles her close, her fingers still lazily weaving through her ex-wife’s blonde hair when she whispers to Mina’s forehead, her lips gently touching the mole in there.

“Let’s sleep now, my love. No need to return the favor.”

Mina closes her eyes and hums, exhaustion finally taking over her body. 

Jeongyeon cuddles her closer and Mina quickly melts under her ex-wife’s warm embrace- and together in each other’s arms again, they finally succumb into yet another peaceful deep slumber. 

*****

When Jeongyeon wakes up in the morning, the other side of the bed is already empty. 

She smiles and runs her palm along the creased white sheets, the motion triggers a subtle burst of Mina’s sweet scent to linger within their cold bedroom air - it instantly calms Jeongyeon’s heart.

The chief detective is still sleepy, but when she hears the faint music playing outside their bedroom, she stretches out her hands and forces herself to stand up from the bed. 

But before she exits their bedroom, Jeongyeon pulls something out from the hidden pocket of their closet, opens the night blue velvet box and smiles on the diamond ring inside- she’s gonna propose to Mina again.

She’s been wanting to do this for quite some time already but she doesn’t have any clear plans yet on how, when and where to actually do it. Jeongyeon wants this _(second)_ proposal to be perfect, even perfect than the first one. 

But her heart always becomes so nervous and anxious whenever she tries to initially plan for it, acting like she’s never done this before. 

Mina always has that effect on her – always making her heart tremble with equal share of excitement and nervousness.

When Jeongyeon finally opens their bedroom door, the tempting aroma of bacon and strong roast coffee is quickly wafted through her nose, making her empty stomach grumbles loudly.

A cheeky grin appears on her face when she sees Mina in their kitchen, wearing only her oversized white shirt while she sways her hips along to Track 09 that is blasting through the younger’s phone speaker. 

Mina is dancing cutely to the music, her back is facing Jeongyeon while the senior detective flips the pancakes in the stove. 

Jeongyeon smiles widely at the sight, her heart already feeling full and contented-

_ahh this is what beautiful and perfect mornings are made of._

Jeongyeon waits until after the second chorus before she sneakily walks towards Mina and hugs her from behind,

“ _and I get to kiss you baby just because I can~ ”_

She hums the lyrics along into Mina’s cheek before she finally kisses her ex-wife good morning.

Mina smiles at the kiss and she presses her back closer into Jeongyeon’s embrace,

“Good morning to you too, honey.”

And like most usual mornings, Jeongyeon helps Mina set up their table and together they enjoy the pancakes and bacons that Mina has cooked for them.

And like most usual mornings, they bask in the comfort of each other’s company as they joke around and talk about any topic - from the most serious to any other mundane thing there is, over a cup of freshly brewed black coffee and a pinch of fluffy omellete eggs.

It’s just like the most usual mornings with Mina- lovely, cheerful and always comfortable, and Jeongyeon reckons this simple moment couldn’t be any more perfect.

Or so she thinks.

Not when Mina slices her pancake perfectly in half and puts the other half on top of Jeongyeon’s already empty plate. 

Not when Mina gets the maple syrup and draws a perfectly shaped heart on top of Jeongyeon’s pancake part - and it is only then when the chief detective finally notices the wedding band on Mina’s finger.

Jeongyeon is stunned for a moment and her heart skips a beat. And when she looks at Mina’s way, her ex-wife is already blushing.

“What?” Mina softly asks her, her tone a bit shy and quiet.

“Your ring..” 

Mina giggles, “You caught me..” and when she stands up and kneels in front of Jeongyeon, the chief detective’s heart is already combusting.

Mina touches her hand and pulls out Jeongyeon’s wedding ring- the one that the chief detective has been trying to search for in the past weeks.

“I’m sorry for stealing this from you, honey. But as you know, I don’t have a budget yet to buy a new engagement ring.. and I-” Mina nervously clears her throat,

“I kinda want to be the one to propose to you this time.”

“So.. Yoo Jeongyeon- the woman that I love. The woman that I adore. My first, and always will be my last love.. my everything.. Will you- will you please be my wife again?”

Jeongyeon’s mouth is opened in awe, she doesn’t know what to feel exactly. Her heart is feeling all sorts of positive giddiness and everlasting love that she feels like she’s gonna combust anytime.

She didn’t answer but instead- she quickly pulls Mina closer for a deep passionate kiss.

Mina kisses her back, as she always does. 

“So is it a yes?”

Mina asks nervously when they finally break the kiss.

Jeongyeon smiles, the wide crooked smile that Mina adores very much-

“Honey, it’s always been a _Yes_ for you.”

And then they kiss again, while Michael Buble serenades them in the background~

_And in this crazy life,_

_and through these crazy times_

_It's you, it's you,_

_you make me sing_

_You're every line, you're every word,_

_you're everything_

_You're every song,_

_and I sing along_

_'Cause you're my everything_

*****

A week after the proposal, Jihyo thinks that it’s finally time - and so she commanded the entire Elite Squad to meet in her house one Saturday evening. Their station is not the safest place for her to conduct this confidential meeting.

The four members of the Elite Squad are already sitting in Jihyo’s couch while munching on their pizza and fried chickens when the doorbell rings.

Dahyun gets the door, and the rookie detective’s brows furrowed instantly when she’s greeted with an unfamiliar blonde girl smiling beamingly at her-

“Wow you’re pretty!” The blonde girl quickly blurted out in genuine honesty, and Dahyun blushes almost immediately.

“Chaeng chaeng!”

The chief detective rushes to the girl and quickly pulls her in for a hug.

“Unnie!!” Chaeyoung screams in delight.

Jeongyeon introduces Chaeyoung to Dahyun as the youngest and most sleek Senior Detective from the other Elite Unit outside of their squad. The chief detective brings her protégé inside and Chaeyoung excitedly catches up with the rest of the squad members.

After a few more minutes, the doorbell rings again and it is now Mina who opens the door, thinking that it’s another pizza delivery.

“You’re not Chief Park.” Nayeon looks at her unimpressed.

“Obviously.” Mina replies with a raised brow.

She turns her back around without even inviting Nayeon in and calls out to Jihyo,

“Ji, the pizza delivery girl is here. I don’t have cash, you go pay her.”

Nayeon looks insulted, “Pi- Pizza delivery girl?!!” She stomps her way inside and whines out to Mina,

“Hey how dare you to call me-.”

“Alright alright.” Jihyo cuts in and claps her hands rather loudly to call everyone’s attention.

And before Nayeon and Mina can even try to kill each other again with their glaring stares and snarky banters, Jihyo stands up in the middle of the living room and announces in her commanding tone.

“Everyone’s already here, so-” She subtly glances at Sana who just nods and smiles encouragingly at her.

Jihyo then smiles back, before she focuses her attention again to all the other persons in front of her- 

a determined and fiery look now already flashing across the Station Chief’s face,

“So shall we start?”

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Track 09: Everything by Michael Buble
> 
> Next Chapter: FINAL TRACK!! yay!! (can you guess the final song?)
> 
> I just want to say thank you to those who are still reading and following this story. 
> 
> Anyways, your comments and thoughts on this chapter are highly appreciated. 
> 
> **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON!!**


	10. Final Track: With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elite Squad's final mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If ever it begins to hurt reading the chapter, you may pause. But please don’t stop reading. You know my JeongMi heart, right?
> 
> Trigger warning: although in passing, there are some mentions of crimes.

*****

The Station Chief stands a few feet away from the corner of her wide smart TV screen, with the remote on her right hand, while she scans the anticipating squad in front of her.

Jeongyeon is sitting beside Mina in the larger couch, with the senior detective clinging much protectively to her fiancée when Nayeon starts walking towards their area.

Chaeyoung, who’s sitting comfortably on the floor, offers another slice of pizza to the rookie detective sitting beside her. 

Dahyun politely accepts it and smiles back to the youngest senior detective, the gesture of which elicits a clearer view of Chaeyoung’s dimples to appear on her now beaming face.

Nayeon, who’s feeling a little out of place, carefully settles herself to stand quietly on the side, a meter away from the main couch.

Jihyo senses Nayeon’s awkwardness so she sends the reporter a subtle reassuring nod before her gaze falls back to Sana. 

Sana, who’s just smiling at her- her shy smile being the right amount of _pat-to-the-shoulder_ for Jihyo, just enough for her to finally proceed with what she’s about to do.

“So shall we start?” 

The Station Chief declares ever so commandingly, and everyone in the room quickly nods.

Jihyo then clicks her remote and a slide is now projected on her wide smart TV screen-

it’s a list of some of the major cases that Jeongyeon and her squad has investigated for the past decade.

High profile murder cases and embezzlement, prostitution rings, crafted accident and drug dens, among any others.

It’s all confidential and complex involving wealthy and influential people as prime suspects.

And when Jihyo clicks the remote to show the next slide, Jeongyeon couldn’t believe what she’s seeing.

“The Mayor’s behind all of that?!” 

the Chief Detective blurted out, her tone surprised and revolting.

“Yes. He and his cahoots are behind all of these vicious crimes that have been exploiting and abusing innocent people for the past decades.” Jihyo replies sternly.

The entire squad, even the quietly observing reporter on the side, is now looking at Jihyo with an expression of sheer disdain and disgust. 

Every one now looks mad, with Mina rubbing her hold on Jeongyeon’s hand, trying to calm her furious fiancée.

Jihyo turns to look at Sana again, the senior detective’s disgusted face quickly shifts into a softer expression when she stares back at Jihyo with encouraging eyes.

And it’s really what Jihyo exactly needs at that moment, a tiny bit of encouragement and reassurance that perhaps- this plan that she has been stealthily brewing for the past three years will work.

That perhaps, no matter how powerless they seem to be as compared to the others- if they really try their best, they might have a shot at justice too.

Sana’s encouraging smile widens, turning into her trademark bright smile that both melts Jihyo’s heart and lights up the fire within her. 

So the Station Chief finally shifts to the next slide- the one that will determine their fate for the next couple of weeks.

Mina’s eyes widened while her gaze remains lock on the screen, 

“Ji.. that’s..” 

“That’s right.” 

Jihyo smiles a little, but internally she’s raging. 

She’s mad and thirsty for justice. It’s been years and she’s had enough.

She’s had enough of being an unwilling pawn in this filthy bloodied game of chess that she’s been subjected to.

She looks at Jeongyeon with flames in her eyes, determined to finally avenge her friends.

“It’s our revenge, Jeong.”

Then she shifts her gaze to Mina again, and the Station Chief’s stare softens a little, 

“We can finally get back at them, Mina.” 

When Mina’s raging stare becomes vulnerable, Jihyo smiles back at her friend, and she repeats her statement in a tone tinged with gentleness and protectiveness-

“We can finally get back at them, Mina. 

We’ll finally get back at them the rightful way.”

*****

Two days after their confidential squad meeting, Jeongyeon and Mina visit the professor inside his faculty office.

Once seated on the opposite chairs in front of the professor's desk, the detectives look at him kindly - the wrinkles on his face and the black hood under his eyes now more visible than the last time Mina has seen them few weeks ago.

“Good morning Detectives.” The professor greets, his deep tone calm and expectant, 

“I think I know the real reason why you visit me here today.”

“Professor..” Mina starts very carefully, and Jeongyeon reaches for her hand to hold it. 

“We need your help.”

For many seconds that follow, the professor just quietly looks at her with a straight face, and Mina squeezes Jeongyeon’s hand tighter to draw more courage from her fiancée’s comforting hold.

“Okay, Detective. What kind of help do you need from me?”

The professor finally replies and Mina lets out an exhale of relief.

The two detectives then explain a part of their plan which actually demands for him to provide to the squad all of his hacked evidences against the Mayor, but this also entails for the professor to voluntarily surrender to all of his crimes.

“When you voluntarily turn yourself in, we’d put you in a safe custody and we will protect you, Professor. We’ll make sure that the Mayor won’t ever get through you to harm you. Please surrender now so that your sentence would be shortened.”

Jeongyeon explains further.

The professor chuckles dryly, 

“But isn’t that what you did with my Yeji too? You put her in a safe house and promised to protect her at all cost.” 

He sends a pained piercing glare at Jeongyeon,

“But where’s my daughter now?”

Jeongyeon gulps and she clenches her jaw, the prickling pain in her heart resurfacing again at the mere mention of the little girl whom she used to embrace protectively every night.

Mina notices the heaviness in her fiancée’s mood so squeezes Jeongyeon’s hand and replies to the professor calmly,

“We will avenge her, Professor. We will give Yeji justice. But for that to happen, we really need your help on this.”

“I don’t believe in our justice system anymore, Detective.” The professor reiterates bluntly while he stands up and walks around his desk, 

“Our justice never favors the weak, the less powerful. If we just continue to let our own justice handles everything, the real monsters will always find their way to escape.” 

He looks at Mina dead straight in the eye and replies in a tone that sends a cold shiver down Mina’s spine, 

“In this unfair world, there are moments when we have to resort in seeking matters with our own hand. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”

Jeongyeon then pulls something out from her coat pocket. She stands up and hands it over to the professor- the old man’s guarded and firm state dwindles slowly when his gaze lands on the picture in the chief detective’s hand.

“My apologies for giving it to you so late, professor.”

Jeongyeon speaks quietly when the old man accepts the picture and the old letter.

It’s a happy photo of Jeongyeon and Yeji - posing beside a snowman that they just built during their first snowfall inside the safehouse. 

Yeji’s bright smile in the picture is enough to trigger a single tear to drop across the professor’s tired wrinkled face. He opens the old letter with a shaking hand and reads through the neat handwriting of his daughter-

_Dear Papa,_

_I miss you! Did you see the snowman we built? Did you like it?_

_It’s snowing really hard in here now, is it snowing in Seoul too?_

_Jeongyeon-unnie said I can be released from here soon if I continue to be a good girl._

_I said they don’t need to worry because I’m your daughter._

_My Papa is the nicest person in the planet therefore I’m a good girl too._

_I will continue to be a good girl so we can finally see each other soon._

_I miss you so much, Papa. I love you._

_Lee Yeji_

The professor’s face is now wet with tears as he continues to read his daughter’s letter over and over again.

“She believes in you professor.” Jeongyeon’s eyes are already watery when she speaks again, her one hand now gently tapping the professor’s shaking shoulders, 

“Yeji looks up to you, professor. She said you’re the nicest and kindest person she has ever known.”

“We can still give her justice, professor.” Mina stands up too and gently holds the other side of the old man’s shoulder. 

“But not like this. Don’t stain your hands anymore, they’re not worth it. Yeji believed in you, she believed in us. So we will give her justice the righteous way. That’s what she deserves.”

The professor finally looks up from the letter. 

He gazes back at the couple in front of him, his old wrinkled face now brimming with pained tears when he finally speaks again- 

“I miss her, Detective. I miss her every day.”

His voice breaks and his tone is laced with utmost longing that sends an agonizing pain into Jeongyeon and Mina’s sympathizing hearts.

“We know, professor.” Mina replies quietly. “We miss her too.”

and Jeongyeon pulls the crying old man closer for a comforting embrace.

*****

The weekend that follows, their plan was finally initiated when during Nayeon’s Saturday primetime news segment, the reporter did a surprised introductory blind item episode about an exclusive expose against one of the presidential candidates. 

What Nayeon did was against her channel’s policies, which is a big public media channel that’s also being controlled by Mayor and his allies. 

But the media stakeholders couldn’t do much because Nayeon mentioned that the expose is going to be done in parts, and that the next episode is going to be broadcasted in her personal youtube vlog channel - Nayeon’s own personal channel which the big media company doesn’t have any control of.

The introductory episode was enough to create a buzz within the nation. It also created a hyped curiosity across the other parts of the globe when Nayeon’s friends and connections from the international media promoted her channel right after she dropped her surprised bomb.

And Nayeon’s five million youtube subscribers garner an increase of nearly half a million just after a day of her exclusive coverage.

As expected and still according to plan, there have been numerous attempts to take down Nayeon’s channel after that, but Dahyun protected the channel well and successfully defended all of the subsequent simultaneous cyber-attacks as per Mina’s guidance.

The night of Nayeon’s introductory coverage, Jeongyeon and Mina were sitting in their living room couch watching the news together.

“Do you really think we could do it, hon?” 

Mina speaks worriedly as she leans her back further against Jeongyeon’s embrace.

“Are you having doubts now?” Jeongyeon finds Mina’s hand and intertwines their fingers together, “Don’t be..” The chief detective props her chin gently on top of Mina’s shoulder, 

“I’m here. I’ll protect you, honey.”

Mina’s heart beats nervously after hearing it,

“That’s what I’m worried about, hon.”

Jeongyeon smiles and puts a tender soft kiss on Mina’s cheek,

“Honey, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll be with you, remember? I’ll protect you. I’d face any bullet for you if I have to.”

Mina’s face winces at the statement and she pulls Jeongyeon even closer to her,

“Don’t. You don’t need to do that.”

“But I will if I have to. You know I’ll never let anyone ever hurt you again.”

Mina’s heart aches at the mere possibility of it. 

She suddenly gets anxious and she starts doubting if they can really pull this one off- for what they’re about to do is extremely dangerous for the both of them.

She looks down at their intertwined hands, their original wedding rings on their fingers made a clinking sound when they clashed together, right after Mina tightens her hold on Jeongyeon’s hand,

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point.”

*****

Despite it being highly confidential, the news about the professor turning himself in under Jihyo’s Squad protection has reached the Mayor’s prying ears.

“That’s good news, General. You finally captured that asshole that kidnapped my son. ” 

The Mayor smiles menacingly over the phone while he takes another puff from the expensive tobacco in his mouth.

“We’re still in line with our plans, Mayor.” The general reassures him, “but it’s even better now. We can now hit three birds with one stone.” 

The puppet police officer grins, feeling proud of himself. The stubborn Station Chief just made their vicious plans even easier for them.

The Mayor puffs another smoke,

“Great. Call me when we’re finally gonna do some bird hunting.”

They say that there’s no such thing as a perfect plan, because no matter how detailed and well-crafted your preparations are, a plan will always have a weak point. 

That there would always be those on the look out just waiting patiently on the sides for that weak point to be exposed. 

And when it finally does, the perpetrators will do their best to dab on that weak point and exploit it greatly.

And Jihyo really should have known better, she should have known that their enemies are not just some petty criminals roaming around the streets.

She should have known that some of their enemies are powerful leeches that actually live within their own backyard- 

always walking freely behind her, with a handgun pointed at her head, ready to pull the trigger and dispose her should they deem she’s not of any use to them anymore.

Jihyo really should have known better when she wakes up to the news of the professor being kidnapped during his secret transfer to the safe house. 

And the General silently watches on one corner of the station, a subtle smile of satisfaction on his face as all of the Squad members come running frantically inside Jihyo’s office.

He picks up his phone and dials the Mayor’s number, while he watches the Station Chief’s horrified reactions when their carefully crafted plans crumble all at once. 

Later that day, Jeongyeon receives an anonymous phone call from someone demanding her to meet somewhere because he has the professor.

So the morning after, as per the caller’s instructions, Jeongyeon and Mina went inside an abandoned semi-completed building in the outskirts of Seoul.

Mina hides one level below, as Jeongyeon climbs further up the highest floor where the kidnapper is supposed to meet the chief detective.

As soon Jeongyeon reaches the 10th floor, she feels the gush of cold winter wind slashing freely throughout the opened space.

The chief detective quickly lifts her handgun and points towards the masked man clad in all black clothes who’s tackling the professor from behind. They are standing dangerously by one of the opened edges.

“Detective Yoo Jeongyeon. It is nice meeting you again.”

Jeongyeon looks on her right side, where the familiar voice came from, and she sees the Mayor emerging from one of the unfinished columns.

“Put down your gun, Detective.” The Mayor commands.

“No.” Jeongyeon grits her teeth, 

“He’s kidnapping our witness. I need to rescue our witness.”

“He’s not a witness. He’s a suspect. He kidnapped my son!”

The Mayor shouts at him.

“But he didn’t kill him did he?” The rage in Jeongyeon’s eyes are now flaming,

“Unlike you Mayor. God knows how many innocent people you have already abused and killed for the past years.”

“And he just kidnapped your son because you killed her daughter! You have already killed so many innocent people, Mayor.” 

Jeongyeon shouts, anger and frustration clearly in her voice now.

The Mayor snickers menacingly and walks closer to the enraged chief detective,

“Oh my favorite Detective, I didn’t kill them. I’m too busy to do the killings myself. I hired someone to do them all for me.”

“You’re despicable. You’re going to pay for all of your crimes! We’re going to expose you, Mayor.”

“Really now? And who would believe you? You think you can defeat me by using that annoying field reporter? Your squad can’t defeat me detective. We’re more powerful than a bunch of lowly principled police officers. We have the entire media and the police on our side. You can’t defeat us, Detective Yoo.”

“We have proofs. We have solid evidences against you, Mayor. ”

“No one would believe you anymore, Detective. Your evidences are nothing after this. No one would believe you anymore when you’ve become a heartless criminal in the public’s eyes.”

“What do you mean?”

Jeongyeon’s eyes widened when the Mayor lifts his hand with a gun now pointing behind her.

“Put down your gun now or I’m going to kill your wife.”

Jeongyeon quickly looks behind her and Mina is now being held hostage by another masked man in black. The chief detective swiftly points her gun towards the man holding Mina.

“Put it down now!” 

The Mayor shouts and he fires a bullet that flies dangerously just a few inches on the side of Mina’s head.

Jeongyeon and Mina both looked at each other equally terrified when the blasting sound of the gun finally diminishes.

“Do you want me to fire another one or are you going to finally put down your gun? If I fire another one, I’m going to make sure it lands on your wife’s head this time.”

Mina shakes her head towards Jeongyeon,

“Honey don’t. He’s just threatening you. He’s planning something else.” 

But Jeongyeon didn’t listen to her when she slowly crouches down and drops her gun on the floor.

“Good girl.” The Mayor grins evilly as he starts walking closer towards Mina, his gun still pointed towards the tied up senior detective.

“Now push the professor towards the edge, Detective Yoo.”

“What?!”

Jeongyeon and Mina both exclaim in shocked and together they look at the professor who is now standing sloppily alone by the edge, the old man’s state is now groggy. He must have been drugged beforehand.

“I said push him or I’m going to kill your wife.”

“No, Jeong. Don’t follow him!”

Mina begs to Jeongyeon and the Mayor just fires another bullet to her side to quiet her down.

Jeongyeon is now internally panicking at the danger that Mina is facing, but she still tries to maintain her cool and negotiates,

“Let go of her and I’ll push him.” 

“I’m not stupid.” The Mayor kicks Jeongyeon’s gun away.

“What’s in it for me then if I push the professor? Are you finally going to let her go?”

Jeongyeon asks with closed fists, her insides are now fuming.

“Yes, I promise to spare your wife’s life. I’m a man of my words, Detective.” The Mayor looks at her wristwatch impatiently, 

“Just push that dirty old man to death will you? I’m a busy man, the city still needs me. Let’s just get this over with quickly.”

“Before you let her kill me..” 

Everyone pauses when the dazed professor lifts his heavy head and starts to speak. His gaze is weak but still having the hint of unforgiving rage towards the Mayor,

“Would you admit that you raped my student?”

The Mayor just laughs at him,

“Which student? I raped many of them. Don’t expect me to remember all of their names.”

The professor coughs, and Jeongyeon tries to walk closer to him. When she gazes down ten floors below, she notices a man with a camera pointed at their floor, hiding sneakily behind one of the worn out high walls.

The professor retorts back to the Mayor, albeit with a weaker voice.

“You’re disgusting. You don’t deserve to live.”

“You talk too much for an old man. Push him now Detective Yoo. Or the next bullet that I’m going to fire will pass through your wife’s eyes.”

Jeongyeon then turns to look at the professor again, now with barely two meters of distance between them, and the old man just nods at her, urging the chief detective to follow the Mayor’s order.

“No.” Jeongyeon replies firmly while shaking her head. 

“I’m not going to kill you professor.”

The professor looks at her and speaks in his tired raspy voice,

“I’m already old and alone.. You still have your wife..” 

His defeated eyes turned into one that reflects utmost longing that Jeongyeon feels like a huge hollow hole is caving right through her heart. 

“I want to meet my daughter again, Detective..”

The weak smile that the professor gives her is enough to shed a tear from Jeongyeon’s already watery eyes,

“Will you pray for me that the heavens will forgive my crimes, and that they allow me to meet Yeji again?” 

The professor’s lips is now shaking and Jeongyeon’s tears flow harder, 

“I want to hug my Yeji again, Detective.. I want to hug her even just for a couple of seconds.”

His smile and eyes are pleading,

“So please, detective.. Will you let me see my daughter now?”

Jeongyeon wipes the tears on her face and shakes her head,

“No. I won’t kill-”

“You two sure do talk so much!”

The Mayor cuts in impatiently as he signals to one of his masked men.

And before Jeongyeon could even react, someone already runs to the professor’s side and finally pushes him towards the edge, with the masked man fleeing the scene as swift as he arrived. 

Jeongyeon tries to rescue him but she’s already a beat too late as she watched the professor’s body falls helplessly towards the ground below.

The dejected screams from Mina right after witnessing the scene are sharply contrasting the loud satisfied laughter that the Mayor emits when he sees the chief detective stands helplessly by the edge.

“I said I’m a man of my words. But that doesn’t mean I have never broken a promise before. After all, promises are meant to be broken.”

Jeongyeon quickly turns around after hearing the Mayor speaks. 

And when she tries her best to run and lunge forward as the Mayor points her gun towards Mina’s head, she desperately hopes that she’s not too late this time.

When Mina sees that Jeongyeon is already running towards her, she tries her best to stand up, despite the excruciating pain from the tight knot around her legs and arms- she tries her best to stand up to hug Jeongyeon and shield her away from the gunshot.

After all, she has already saved Jeongyeon before.

So why not do it again?

For Jeongyeon. For the love of her life.

She’d do it over and over again.

And not regret a single thing.

She’d do it over and over again.

Even across different lifetimes.

And when Mina finally closes her eyes and the last thing that she sees is Jeongyeon’s face, she internally prays that the heavens will permit for them to meet again.

So she can offer her love to Jeongyeon again, even in another lifetime..

*****

_For you I would travel to outer space_

_Take a bullet to the heart just to keep you safe_

_For you, anything for you_

*****

_“What bread is this?”_

_Jeongyeon’s eyes literally light up after taking a bite from the bread that the rookie detective gave her._

_“It’s melon pan. Do you like it?”_

_Mina’s heart feels proud and elated at the mere sight of Jeongyeon enthusiastically eating the piece of bread that she offered to her squad mate._

_“I love it!”_

_Jeongyeon’s smile gets wider, it’s more blinding and beaming, and perhaps Mina’s heart leaps a little higher._

_And it’s the first time ever in her life that Mina feels like she wants to cherish a girl’s smile and tucks the precious memory of it deep inside her heart._

_And ever since then, Mina promises to herself that she would do anything to protect that precious smile._

_Mina never knew it back then, but few years after that she’d eventually come to realize that after seeing Jeongyeon’s excited smile for the very first time –_

_that’s the exact moment when she starts to fall in love._

*****

When he reaches the ground level of the abandoned building, the Mayor walks towards a civilian with a high-end camera.

“Did you capture it?”

“Yes, Mayor. I’ve captured everything.” 

A black car stops in front of them and the Mayor smirks victoriously.

“Good job. I’ll make sure to pay you more when I win the election.”

The driver then emerges from the car and runs towards the Mayor.

“Mayor, why aren’t you answering your phone?!”

“I was busy. What’s with that expression of yours?”

“They captured it they captured everything!”

The driver exclaims, a panic clearly written all over his face.

“Of course he captured everything. It’s what I told him to do, you idiot!”

“No no not that!” 

The driver then pulls out his phone in panic motion and showed it to the Mayor.

The politician squints when he sees the familiar face of a reporter speaking on the screen-

_“Thank you everyone for watching our first expose episode: The Suspect’s Live Confession. See you all tomorrow, same time as we continue to drop more exclusive bombs for our second episode entitled: The Suspect’s Henchmen._

_Again, thank you for watching. Don’t forget to click like and subscribe and share this video to your families and friends._

_Good night everyone, and may we all vote wisely in the upcoming election.”_

Nayeon ends her spill with a subtle raising of brow and a confident victorious smile. 

When the Mayor lifts his head from the phone screen, Jihyo is now standing in front of him, with Sana just two steps behind her.

The Station Chief pulls out her handcuffs as the blazing sound of police sirens can now be heard from the far end distance,

“Mayor Eun Kwonbin..” Jihyo glares at the vicious politician, her tone firm and defiant,

“you’re under arrest.”

The Mayor’s mouth opened in shock and when he looks up to the 10th floor of the building again, his eyes widened in full when he sees Jeongyeon, Mina, the professor, and two other persons are standing together by the exposed edge of the floor.

*****

**_[… 24 hours ago ... ]_ **

Jihyo is about to open her office door after briefing the Squad inside when she notices something,

“Detective Kim why are you blushing?”

“I- I’m not blushing, Chief.” Dahyun denies while shaking her head furiously.

“Oh for God’s sake Detective Son stop holding her hand!”

“I was just giving her moral support- ” 

Jihyo glares at Chaeyoung and she immediately drops her hold on Dahyun’s hand. 

“..sorry Chief..” The youngest senior detective apologizes sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.

“And stop smiling. The General is outside and we’re supposed to look like we’re in distress and panicking. Once I open this door you have to act accordingly. Do you all copy?”

“Copy Chief!”

The five other detectives in the room simultaneously answered in loud whispers before Jeongyeon holds Jihyo’s arm and comments with a knowing smile,

“Stop holding Detective Minatozaki’s hand too then.”

Jihyo just looks at her friend unfazed and replies in her most dominant tone, 

“I’m just giving her moral support.”

And before a shocked Chaeyoung could even whine in protest, the Station Chief has already turned the knob and mouthed at her,

“Act accordingly.”

When the Station Chief’s office door is finally opened, Jeongyeon finds Mina’s hand and whispers to her fiancee’, a sly smirk tugging up her lips-

“Honey, let the show begin.”

**_[… 2 hours ago ... ]_ **

Mina hides in the corner where she’s sure is away from the earshot of the masked man who’s secretly following her. She pushes a button in her smart watch and speaks quietly in their comms-

“Orchid, you’re all set in there?”

“Yes, Daisy. Mirror sites are also in place as a backup. Reporter Im is already done with her introductions. Just waiting for your signal to switch to the live broadcast.”

Mina listens to Jeongyeon’s comms channel and counts the chief detective’s hurried footsteps climbing the top floor. After the 12th step she finally confirms,

“Switch it now.”

“Got it, Daisy.”

“Two o’clock, four meters from the edge column. Confirm once in position.”

Jeongyeon quickly whispers in the comms as soon as she reaches the 10th floor and sees the professor being held by a masked man in one of the building’s opened edges.

Chaeyoung, who’s in the seventh floor, skillfully repositioned the life net in the exact same side of the building as per the chief detective’s instruction. 

She pushes another button to prepare and activate the backup net in the fifth floor just in case something goes wrong.

After ensuring her set up, she speaks in their comms again,

“All set now, Iris.”

Jeongyeon spares the professor another careful look before her focus is called out by the very criminal that they’re about to entrap today-

“Detective Yoo Jeongyeon. It is nice meeting you again.”

“Hey there! What are you doing here with that camera? This is an abandoned building. What are you shooting in there?”

Sana stops her bicycle in front of a man with a large high-end camera beside the building entrance.

The man initially panics after being caught, but he quickly shifted to his taunting demeanor again when he notes that the girl in front of him looks like just a lost harmless college student in this area of the neighbourhood.

“What do you care, babe? Why? do you want me to shoot you with this camera?”

Sana’s flirtatious mode is swiftly activated when she walks closer to the photographer and runs her palm across the man’s chest-

“Is that an invitation?”

The man glances up on the 10th floor and then to his watch, after noticing that he still has time-

“Are you up for it?”

Sana grins flirtatiously before she forcefully grabs the man to one side of the wall,

“You talk too much, babe.”

And when Sana finally leans in and kisses the man, Jihyo clenches her jaw hard. And she had to muster all her self-control just so she wouldn’t emerge from her hiding spot and smack the hell out of the man’s perverted head.

**_[… 15 minutes ago ... ]_ **

“Honey! Honey!”

The sight of a very worried Jeongyeon is the first thing that Mina sees when she opens her eyes.

The chief detective is sitting on the floor and is cradling her upper body when she notices the spread of fake blood all over Jeongyeon’s hands.

“How are you feeling? Did it hurt anywhere?” 

Jeongyeon’s eyes and tone reflect the deepest of worry while she helps Mina sits upright.

The senior detective coughs the slight pain in her chest, and it doesn’t take two seconds before Mina throws a punch to Jeongyeon’s shoulder,

“Why did you run towards me?! It wasn’t part of the plan! I was the one who’s supposed to be shot not you.”

Jeongyeon didn’t mind the light punches and just hugs Mina instead.

“Oh thank god you’re ok now. Here, punch me more until you feel much better.”

When Jeongyeon holds her hand and puts it on her own shoulder, Mina’s scolding quickly turns into a light chuckle and instead of punching her again, she wraps her arms around Jeongyeon’s back and hugs her close.

Mina pouts although Jeongyeon doesn’t see her,

“I was just worried when I saw you running towards me..”

Jeongyeon kisses Mina’s hair,

“Of course I’d run into you. My body just goes auto-pilot to run into you whenever you’re in danger, honey. Besides, I also have my bulletproof vest on so it’s ok even I was the one who was shot.”

“But still…”

“Don’t worry about me, hon. You’re the one who was shot, not me.”

The chief detective pulls away from their embrace and looks at Mina, when she notices that the pout is still there, Jeongyeon’s worried expression shifted into an amused grin, 

“You’re pouting now. Does that mean you’re fully ok now?”

Mina nods but she doesn’t release her pout,

“I’m still a bit hurt from the shot. I need a kiss.”

The statement shocks Jeongyeon. Unlike her, it’s so rare for Mina to be playful and cheeky in the middle of their mission. So the chief detective didn’t waste any more time and leans closer to kis-

“Mina-unnie!!!”

The synchronized screams of Dahyun and Chaeyoung have startled the couple.

“Jesus Christ Son Chaeyoung!”

Jeongyeon whines to her friend, sounding extremely annoyed because of their interrupted kiss.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. Are you just about to make out? Should we turn our back now?”

Chaeyoung asks, it sounded sarcastic but it’s not. It’s an honest question from the young senior detective while she grabs Dahyun’s hand and motions for them to turn around.

Mina snickers, “It’s ok, Chaeng. We’ll just- Professor!” 

The couple quickly stands up when they see the professor’s figure peeking from Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s small body frames.

Jeongyeon and Mina quickly run towards him,

“Are you ok professor?”

“I’m fine, Detectives.” The professor waves off their concerned arms and smiles at the couple,

“So tell me- did we finally catch him?”

And with that question, Jeongyeon and Mina carefully guide the old professor near one of the opened edges, while Dahyun and Chaeyoung quickly follow behind them.

Together, they stand side by side as they watch below how Jihyo arrests and puts a handcuff to the vicious heartless politician. When the Mayor looks up towards their direction, Chaeyoung sends him a flipping finger in both hands.

“He wouldn’t see that Chaeng, your fingers are small.” Jeongyeon jokes.

“Bro, it’s the thought that counts!”

Chaeyoung quickly retorts in a whiny tone, and all the detectives including the professor just laugh at her antics.

*****

After their successful operation, the Mayor and the other powerful politicians and businessmen involved in all his shady operations were eventually convicted.

It wasn’t an easy fight of course- the corrupted villains still tried their best to counter it. 

But thanks to Nayeon’s continued documentary expose series in her youtube channel, and through the solid evidences that they have gathered, the case gained much attention and traction not only within the entire Korean public, but also gained worldwide publicity across all media platforms and channels.

The Station Chief and the entire Elite Squad were also awarded a Presidential medal of honour, which is one of the highest forms of awards for public service.

But for Jeongyeon and Mina, the greatest award that they receive that year is when they take their vows for each other again at the start of autumn.

*****

Unlike their first wedding, which took them more than a year to prepare, their second wedding is much simpler. 

It's held in an exclusive beach with a private lighthouse overlooking the Yellow Sea, only attended by less than 100 guests, very intimate yet utterly romantic, perfectly suited for the introverted nature of the engaged couple.

When the melodic sound of the piano and violin strings filled the breezy ocean air as the first bride finally emerges from hiding, everyone holds their breath.

Jeongyeon marches down the sandy carpeted aisle in her long lacy wedding dress, and even from a distance she looks absolutely stunning.

The piano and violin instrumental rendition of _Valentine_ in the background has already made Jeongyeon feeling so emotional when she walked down the aisle. 

But it is only when the floral curtains are pulled up again, and she finally sees Mina take her first step, in her elegant diamond-embellished wedding dress, holding a beautiful bouquet of daisies and irises - Jeongyeon couldn’t help but to shed a tear.

The lovely melody of _Valentine_ is still playing when Mina starts walking elegantly down the aisle. And when she finally meets Jeongyeon’s already watery gaze, Mina smiles lovingly at her from a distance, eyes are also on the verge of spilling out happy tears.

The ceremony commences smoothly, and when the crowd gets focused and quiet again, Jeongyeon is already starting her vows.

“Honey..we’re here again.” Jeongyeon starts with a lopsided smile, her one hand shakily holding a piece of paper, while her other hand reaches out for Mina to hold.

“When I first fell in love, I thought that love is all about sacrifices.. in a way yeah it is but that’s not really how love always works, is it?” Jeongyeon chuckles and Mina just smiles at her encouragingly.

“In my past relationship, I was always the one who gives, the one who understands, the one who sacrifices and made the effort. I thought that was normal, that when you love someone, it’s just normal to be like that. I always give so much of myself that I never realized that’s not really how love works.”

“I knew that love is a commitment, so I stayed committed. But I never realized how tiring it is when you’re the only who values that commitment. I was so used to be the one doing all the sacrifices and understanding that there were moments when I questioned myself- _why is loving someone so tiring and difficult_?”

“But I guess I just felt tired back then because apparently- I was loving the wrong person. I never realized how really easy it is to be in love until you came along.” 

Jeongyeon couldn’t hold back her tears anymore and she sniffles before continuing onto her speech.

“Mina, when you came into my life, everything just becomes easier. Everything just becomes lighter and effortlessly happy. The first time that you told me you love me, up until this very moment- you made it a point to show it to me every day.”

Jeongyeon bites her bottom lip to avoid herself from choking on her own sob,

“You made it a point to prove your love to me even when I thought you didn’t love me anymore.”

Mina is already crying too, and she gently rubs her thumb along the edge of Jeongyeon’s hand to calm the crying bride.

“Mina, you made me feel important. You made me feel valued and prioritized. And I vow and promise to you and to everyone in here that I would make you feel that way too, even more if I can.”

Jeongyeon then chuckles amidst her sniffling.

“Although sometimes, it’s really hard to surpass the way you love me if I’m being honest here. You’re very competitive, my love.” 

The last bit elicits a series of chuckling and giggling from the crying audience, just enough to lighten the emotional atmosphere that Jeongyeon’s vow has already created.

“Mina, the love of my life, I vow to always protect you, to never leave your side. I vow to never say a word and let you win in games whenever you wake up one morning feeling all so cranky and moody. I vow to always give you space when you need it. Even if it means no kisses whenever you or I have a runny nose and colds.”

It elicits another series of laughter from the audience and Jeongyeon turns to them to explain briefly,

“Mina is really strict with that. She never allows kisses when one of us is sick.”

She turns to Mina again,

“I vow to recover quickly whenever I am sick so I could kiss you again.”

Mina giggles at Jeongyeon’s adorable vow, and the chief detective squeezes their laced hands when she continues,

“I love you so much, Mina. I love you so much that I don’t think saying it to you every day would be enough. I vow to show my love to you through my actions, if you want me to sing then I would even sing it for you.”

“Mina, the girl that I adore, I vow to be your friend, your lover, sometimes your chef, most importantly- I vow to be your shoulder to cry and punch on. I vow to cherish and love you every day, and every night for the rest of our lifetime.” 

Mina is now crying really hard when Jeongyeon finishes her vows.

“How do you expect me to top that, honey? I’m not even good with words.”

Jeongyeon replies cheekily, “You can top me later on our wedding night, honey.” But then she realizes she said it out loud and turns to the audience looking embarrassed,

“I’m sorry I’m not supposed to say that over the microphone.”

The laughter from the crying audience gets louder, even the wedding officiant is laughing too, and Jihyo is just shaking her head while grinning widely. 

But when Mina starts to pull out a piece of paper, everyone quiets down again while they wait for the bride to start her vow.

“Honey, I’m sorry if I’m not good with words so.. first of all, I love you.” 

Mina stares at Jeongyeon with a look full of love and adoration.

“I vow and I promise to love you even on days when it gets hard for the both of us. It’s not every day that we can love each other 100%. We already had a trial run of that during our first marriage.”

“But what I can promise you is I would do my best to fill up the remaining space. Even if you can only give me 1% of your love on bad days, I would do my best to fill that remaining 99% so our love could still be complete every day. Because I know.. I know full well that you would do the same for me too.”

Mina tightens her hold on Jeongyeon’s hand,

“Honey, I think I’ve never thanked you enough for never leaving my side. For staying with me and giving me your silent support. For always being there for me, because really.. that’s just what I need- you beside me.”

“Thank you for always respecting my need for space. For always respecting my privacy and alone time. Thank you for picking up the broken pieces of me even if it means it can hurt you in the process too. Thank you for taking care of me and believing in me.. for allowing me to completely heal.. Honey, your love made me feel whole again.”

Mina sniffles and looks up to the clear sky above to temporarily stop her endless tears from falling. 

“You made me feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the world, because I truly am. I’m the luckiest woman on earth because I’m the girl whom you chose to spend the rest of your days with.” 

Mina tilts her head a little, smiles and sends the fondest and gentlest of stare to Jeongyeon. 

The chief detective feels like melting and flying just by looking through Mina’s loving eyes alone.

“I love you so much, honey. And I love the version of myself whenever I’m with you. I love you very much, Jeongyeon. And I can’t wait to call you my wife again.”

Another set of tears runs down across Jeongyeon’s cheeks after Mina finally finishes her vows. She lifts their held hands and places a soft tender kiss on Mina’s knuckles.

The overwhelming love from the couple is so palpable that not a single guest watching them is left with dry eyes- even Jihyo is full-on crying now while she wipes off her wet face with her handkerchief.

When the couple finally say their “ _I do’s” ,_ Jeongyeon tugs Mina closer to her for a sweet and gentle kiss – their first kiss as lawfully wedded wives again.

The chief detective then raises her hand victoriously in the air and everybody claps and cheers their hearts out for the newlyweds.

The open reception is held within the same beach area with the beautiful sunset as their natural backdrop. 

As the sky is painted with a magnificent canvass of purple, pink, and orange hues, the yellow string lights scattered across the reception and dance area is finally switched on - creating a beautiful illusion of bright starry roofed sky illuminating the lovely festivity happening below.

When the wedding host calls the Station Chief to give her best woman speech, Jihyo stands up, a piece of folded paper in her hands as she walks towards the front, near the area where the newlyweds are sitting.

After accepting the microphone from the host, she spares a quick smiling glance to the newlyweds-

“So.. here I am again.” 

The Station Chief starts her speech, her voice immediately attracting everyone’s attention. 

“First of all, congratulations to my favorite lovefools. You don’t know how happy I am to finally see you two walk down the aisle again- together. Just the way it should be.”

Jihyo’s fond smile at the newlyweds elicits another happy tear to peek on the corner of Mina’s eyes.

The Station Chief’s gaze then shifts to the small audience in front of her.

“I can see that most guests in here have attended their first wedding before, and have most probably heard my best woman speech during their first trial run.” Her introduction garners a few nods from some of the guests.

“But to refresh your memory, I’m going to introduce myself again- I’m Park Jihyo. Jeongyeon’s best friend since high school, and Mina’s favorite friend since she started working in SMPA. And tonight, I’m going to share some stories about our newlyweds - stories that I have forgotten to include in my best woman speech many years ago.”

The Station Chief quickly looks down at the paper in her hand, 

“Jeongyeon is my best friend for more than a decade already. And anyone who has met her can attest how brave, capable, and very protective Jeongyeon is. She never shies away to offer help to anyone who needs it, even to people not under her direct care.”

Chaeyoung proudly nods in her seat after hearing it.

“Ever since high school, Jeongyeon seems to be that one strong girl who always protects the weak. From the outside she seems to be very invincible, but in reality she’s actually not. Detective Yoo Jeongyeon may appear strong in all aspects but she actually has the softest and most gentle of heart deep inside. In fact, it’s not really hard to make her cry.”

“And I used to think - if there’s one _flaw_ that I can divulge about Jeong, it is that she’s too _selfless_ for her own good. Jeongyeon is too selfless and too focused on taking care of others that sometimes, she often forgets to take care of herself too. And I have been a witness to the destructive consequences of that one _flaw_ of her - when Jeongyeon gets to have her heart broken for the very first time.”

“When Jeongyeon loves, she loves fully, she loves with all her heart. She gives everything to the girl. So when she got her heart broken for the first time during college, it shattered her completely. And when she came up to me one night looking like an ugly cat with bad hair days and messy crying face because her ex-girlfriend broke up with her, I just knew back then that no other girl truly deserves Jeongyeon’s love.”

Jihyo turns to look at the newlywed’s corner again and flashes Mina a tender stare,

“Not until I met Mina.”

Jeongyeon nods at Jihyo before she stares at her wife again, pulling her even closer.

The Station Chief then proceeds on her speech,

“When I first saw Mina, even before their batch was formally introduced to our unit, she was eating a bread in one corner of our pantry. I found out eventually that the Japanese melon bread was her comfort food and she eats it whenever she’s stressed or nervous. She was eating it alone in our station pantry because she was extremely nervous on her first day for her first ever job.”

“Fast forward to three months later when she was assigned in our Squad, she shared that bread to us and it instantly became Jeongyeon’s favorite too. It becomes their comfort food together, and they eat it together whenever we finished an exhausting or just a plain terrible mission.”

“Now, this is the first time that I’m ever going to share this publicly.” Jihyo chuckles fondly and looks at Mina’s way. “Sorry Mina, I just had to share this. You’ll still love me after this right?”

Mina’s look of confusion accompanied by a hesitant nod is endearing so Jihyo just proceeds with her speech.

“So.. many years ago, when our squad just finished one of our most terrifying and disturbing retrieval operations, we all went back to our station feeling all rattled up, completely disturbed and exhausted. Jeongyeon whined then that she needed a melon pan to de-stress and Mina immediately stood up and went to her locker to get some stash for the both of them - because Mina always stores some packs of melon pan in her locker.”

“I followed Mina that time, in the locker room, because I needed some change of clothes too. And that’s when I saw it- that she only had one melon pan left. And when she walked back to our squad, she gave that one remaining piece to Jeong without any hesitation.”

“When Jeong asked about her share, Mina lied that she already ate one in the locker room. Because she knows that one piece of that bread isn’t enough for Jeongyeon. Because we just had such a really terribly horrible day that time and Mina knows that eating a whole pack of melon pan can make Jeongyeon feel a little bit calmer.”

Jihyo then smiles at the audience, eyes sparkling with utter fondness while reliving the memory,

“So Jeongyeon eventually ate the entire bread, and Mina just looked at her while smiling.”

“But the thing is, it’s not just Jeong who had a horrible day that time, Mina had too. Yet she chose to give her last remaining bread to Jeongyeon. She gave them all to Jeong.”

After hearing the story, Jeongyeon fondly looks at her wife again, her hold tightening on their laced hands.

Jihyo continues on,

“Then fast forward to six months of them being girlfriends, Jeong came running to my room one night and she eventually started being so overly dramatic and cried in front of me again. I told you Detective Yoo is actually a crybaby. Anyway, it was the night of her birthday.”

“I really thought Mina broke up with her that time because Jeongyeon was ugly crying again. But it turns out- Jeong was crying because she was just happy, extremely happy.

_So this is the feeling of being prioritized, Ji? -_ I remember Jeong telling me that night, happy tears in her eyes. 

She was crying because Mina chose to stay in the country for her birthday and even managed to put up a surprise for her. Mina was supposed to fly to the US then for a special interview with Interpol.”

“And it was only then during that moment, when Jeongyeon was grinning like a fool and wiping the messy tears in her face as she’s sharing me in details how Mina surprised her- it’s only then that I realized, I have finally found the girl who deserves my best friend.”

“Jeong was so used to being taken for granted and being just an alternative during her past relationship, that she never experienced how it is to be truly valued and prioritized when loving someone. Not until Mina came along.” 

Jihyo turns to the newlyweds again, her eyes are already watery-

“Because with Mina, Jeongyeon was never just an option. She is always the choice. They are always each other’s choices.”

“I also realized back then that Jeongyeon’s selfless nature when loving someone is not exactly her _flaw_ nor it is a weakness of her. Because when you found someone who loves you just as selfless too, it eventually becomes both of your strengths. A strength that would become one of the foundations of your relationship.”

“I have always believed that finding someone you will fall in love with and who would also love you back with the same level of intensity and effort is a miracle. Not everyone gets to be lucky enough to experience that miracle in their lifetime. And I’m just really really happy that Jeongyeon and Mina found each other, and that they have found their own miracles in each other’s arms.”

Jihyo’s smile is as bright as the sun when she stares back at her two closest friends-

“To Mina, thank you for being Jeongyeon’s miracle. And thank you for staying and loving her consistently- throughout the good and the bad times. Jeong, I’m just really happy you finally found your perfect match. I hate it when someone abuses your kindness so I’m really thankful that you found the girl who would hold your awfully selfless heart with greater care. I love you both. Even if sometimes I don’t show it, but I really do love you both.”

After Jihyo ends her speech, she walks to the couple and engulfs them in a tight embrace.

"Should we do a _Flower Power_ in here?"

Jeongyeon teases her friend.

"Oh shut up!" Jihyo replies snarkily but with a wide smile still on her face.

And together, the three friends shared a hearty laughter again while Mina holds them closer and tightens their embrace.

With the lighthouse in the near end corner shedding its guiding rays towards the blue ocean, the full moon shining brightly in the dark sky, the string lights and the stars scattered above, the soft and soothing melody of songs filling up the air- the wedding reception even feels more intimate and romantic.

Jeongyeon sneakily requested the band to play track 10 in their playlist. She then guides Mina to the wooden dance floor, and as the guitar intro of _With You_ plays in the background, she holds Mina closer by the waist and Mina snakes her arms around her neck.

“So you’re already in love with me even during your first year at SMPA, huh?”

Jeongyeon asks Mina with a sheepish smile on her face, while she guides her wife to slow dance to the song.

Mina just smirks coyly at her while tracing her fingers along Jeongyeon’s nape,

“Maybe.”

Jeongyeon smirks back and whispers into Mina’s ears,

“I just knew you had a huge crush on me back then, honey. No one can really resist Iris’ charms, you know.”

She looks at Mina’s eyes again, lips forming into a fond yet teasing smile,

“Remember the night when I gave you my playlist?”

Mina rolls her eyes and blushes adorably,

“Oh don’t remind me. I didn’t know what I was doing back then.”

Jeongyeon pulls her wife closer,

“Why? It was one of my favorite nights. You were so cute back then.”

Mina taps Jeongyeon’s shoulder lightly and replies with an eyeroll,

“And you were so dense! I can’t believe you didn-”

Mina isn’t able to continue her reply anymore since Jeongyeon closes the gap between them and captures her lips. 

Their kiss is sweet and gentle at first. 

And just like in all of those shared moments with her wife, time seems to stop between them, no one else seems to matter anymore in that moment.

And as the second chorus of the song kicks in, Mina relishes the sweet melody of their playlist's final track, as she pulls Jeongyeon closer to her and deepens their kiss.

_With you,_

_all the years just fade away_

_Like a dream in my arms, but I'm wide awake_

_With you,_

_whenever I'm with you_

_With You-_ the last words that completed Jeongyeon’s hidden message to her on that one fateful night.

_With You-_ Mina remembers how her heart leaps with joy when she finally figured it out. She couldn’t believe back then that Jeongyeon also feels the same way.

_With You-_

“I love you, honey.”

Jeongyeon whispers to her after their kiss, her eyes reflecting so beautifully with the string lights above them. 

Mina smiles fondly, eyes full of love and utmost adoration when she pulls Jeongyeon closer and kisses her again.

_With You-_

Even back then, back when the first note of Track 1 starts, Mina already knew then that there’s no other place she’d rather be than with Jeongyeon’s side.

Always with Jeongyeon.

Just the way how it should be.

*****

FIN.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, WELCOME BACK JEONGYEON! We're so proud of you!  
>  **WE LOVE YOU JEONGYEON**  
>  \-----
> 
> Track 10: With You by Tyler Shaw
> 
> to complete the playlist's hidden message:  
> "I AM IN LOVE With You"
> 
> so yup, some readers are correct- _For My Daisy_ is a confession playlist. hehe.
> 
> Anyways, that's it for Iris & Daisy's adventures! 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts in this chapter please. I appreciate every comment. 
> 
> hehe JeongMi 💚💚
> 
> P.S. Here's the [ GND Spotify playlist ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3dvjr7qbY7lUq32rHMqi9Z?si=ICqE5cFzTi2L9Gzdht2fKw) Enjoy! :)


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